UF students travel to Haiti to bring money, supplies

Two UF students are leaving for Haiti today to help those in need.

Amaury Sablon and Deshlee Ford made the decision to collect money and supplies for a three-day trip after they saw Hurricane Matthew’s devastation in Haiti. The hurricane destroyed homes and killed at least 473 people, according to the Associated Press.

The two students plan to donate items they collected while also reporting on what they experience, Sablon, 20, said. So far, they have collected more than 200 pounds of supplies, which came from friends, family members and donations through UF Health Shands. They also collected about $1,000 to buy more items.

“I’m not going to stop doing work so I can be a journalist,” the UF telecommunication and Spanish junior said. “First, I’m a human. First, I’m going to help the people of Haiti.”

Sablon said they collected multiple bags of supplies full of water-purification pills, personal-hygiene items and clothes.

In his apartment, piles of donated supplies sit in a stack. His eyes filled with tears as he stared at the boxes and bags of clothes, soap and diapers.

“It’s so amazing and overwhelming,” he said.

Sablon said he has never been to Haiti, but he spent part of his freshman year in its neighboring country, the Dominican Republic.

There, he met Dr. Samuel Bastien, who owns the nonprofit Health Education Project, an organization that focuses on medical needs in Haiti. Sablon said he and Ford will work with Bastien to distribute supplies to help prevent the spread of diseases like cholera and malaria.

Originally, Sablon said he planned a Homecoming weekend hike in North Carolina. But after Bastien told him about the effects of Hurricane Matthew, he bought a plane ticket to Haiti. And then he called his mom.

When she heard, Yohanis Freire, Sablon’s mother, gasped. But she understood that the trip was something he was going to do, even without her approval.

“I have no worries,” she said as she began to cry. “I’m very proud of him. Way too proud of him.”

For Ford, 21, charity and photojournalism are one in the same.

The UF journalism senior said she’s looking forward to bringing her photojournalism skills to Haiti, where she will be able to capture this moment in history.

Ford said she wants to photograph the scenes of disaster to help bring attention to Matthew’s aftermath.

The opportunity to stand in the middle of disaster will be life-changing, she said, and she wants to find the beauty in it.

“Sometimes you have to wait for a moment,” she said. “When you are patient, you can capture something beautiful and take it home with you.”

Update 4:37 p.m. - 

In the original story, Yohanis Freire's last name was incorrectly identified as Matamoros. 

Amaury Sablon, a 20-year-old UF telecommunication and Spanish junior, stands in front of the money and supplies that were donated to bring to Haiti this weekend after Hurricane Matthew.