Kori Bowns
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Every fall, to kick off the new school
year, Illinois Tech’s Office of Campus Life
(OCL) organizes Welcome Week, a week of
fun events that help new students get a taste
of what IIIT’s campus community has to offer
as well as help returning students get more
involved and meet new students.

This year’s tentative Welcome Week
schedule is even fuller than last year’s, currently
including over 50 events spaced out over the 10
days before classes begin. This year’s new and

Student newspaper of Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

Office of Campus Life prepares Welcome Week

returning students will have plenty to keep
them from becoming bored before classes get
started. Events for this Welcome Week include
a good mix of events that will introduce
students to what IIT has to offer, trainings for
new students, performers being brought to
campus, and social events hosted by student
organizations. Some returning favorites on
the tentative schedule include Playfair, an
event featuring a collection of high-energy
ice—breaker games, a pep rally, and shopping
shuttles to nearby retailers.

Ryan Miller, Associate Vice Provost
for Campus Life, had a few thoughts to share

regarding the purpose of Welcome Week. “The
goal of Welcome Week is just what it sounds
like. We know that coming back to classes isn’t
always the most fun thing in the world, but our
goal is just to make everyone feel welcome at
IIT,” said Miller. ‘We hope that by providing
a few fun activities mixed in with some more
official ones, we can get everyone acclimated to
campus and making a friend or two before the
grind of class starts up.”

Even more than with years past,
this year’s Welcome Week events aim to kick
start the formation of the HT community that
students love. All students who participate will

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have the chance to make some great friends,
learn something new, and maybe step a bit
outside of their comfort zone.

The Office of Campus Life is also
planning a few additional events that will take
place during the first week of classes that will
also be helpful to new students. Throughout
the academic year, keep your eyes open for
even more events facilitated by IIT’s Office of
Campus Life. The office plans many activities
during the school year to keep campus fun and
also works with student organizations to plan
even more events for students.

MEDLIFE-IIT starts Summer
2015 in Riobamba, Ecuador

Egle Malinauskaite
TECHNEWS WRITER

After months of planning. grant-
writing, and fundraising, IIT’s MEDLIFE
Chapter embarked on their journey to the
May 23-31 brigade in Riobamba, Ecuador.
This year, the chapter sent nine students, four
alumni, and one faculty member to a mobile
clinic visiting indigenous communities outside
of the city.

MEDLIFE is an international NGO
helping various Latin American and African
communities achieve freedom from the
constraints of poverty, empowering them to live
healthier lives. The organization believes access
to quality healthcare is a basic human right
and should be addressed in a comprehensive
application of MEDs: Medicine, Education and
community Development. Since IIT’s chapter’s
launch in 2013, they have championed
MEDLIFE’s commitment to addressing the
root causes of disparities worldwide. Just like
last year’s trip to Lima, Peru, their experience
in Ecuador was an eye-opening juxtaposition
to Chicago.

The

communities outside of

Riobamba identify strongly with the Native
American Quechua culture; residents are
typically fluent in both Spanish and Quechua.
With an economy based on agricultural goods

 

that continue to decline in value, lack of access to
many basic resources, including transportation
and sanitation infrastructure, is common. The
hard physical labor ofmountain farming from
an early age. coupled with malnutrition, can
lead to premature health problems. However,
the cost of lost productivity and traveling to
the nearest city for financially unobtainable
medical treatments prevents most residents
from obtaining adequate medical care.

This is where IIT’s MEDLIFE
students came in. During the daily mobile
clinic, they volunteered in rotations under the
guidance of local healthcare professionals to
provide free medical services and educational
tools for hygiene. The stations included
triage, general medicine, dentistry, obstetrics]
gynecology, pharmacy, and education. One of
the most popular rotations was tooth brushing
- teaching children as young as 3 oral health
with free colorful brushes, a large teeth model,
and tons of spit. Each rotation was a humbling
lesson in doctor-patient relationships and
privilege. At the end of the week, they helped
the brigade tend to a total of 444 patients.

One of the communities visited was
Galte Yaguachi, in the region of Guamote,
Ecuador. In addition to the mobile clinic,
students worked alongside the locals on a
development project: sanding and priming the
walls of a new classroom that would eventually
serve over 100 children and five teachers.

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According to [IT student Dawlat Mohamed,
B.S. Biochemistry ‘15, it was “an experience
unlike any other. While you’re working with
the community members, you are constantly
learning valuable lessons from them; humility,
gratefulness, perseverance, contentment, and
strength. . . One woman even had her baby
strapped to her back while I was helping her
carry cement back and forth. The strength I
saw from this community was incredible, and
inspired me to push myself even harder in all
that I do. These people have given way more
than I would have ever hoped to give them.”
On the last day of the trip, the classroom’s
inauguration was a full-out celebration,
complete with delicious snacks, games, and
dancing. Yet the most heartwarming moments
came when the community sang Ecuador’s
national anthem in unison and the children
handed out hand—woven baskets as gifts to all
the volunteers. To say it was a beautiful display
of humanity doesn’t do it justice.

The 11 days spent in Ecuador are
defined by moments like this. Of course,
students also had plenty of time to explore
the country’s culture and conquer plenty of
fears. They climbed to the top of the Basilica
Del Voto Nacional, the largest neo-Gothic
basilica in the Americas, located in the historic
center of Quito. They rode the Quito Teleferico
gondola, one of the highest aerial lifts in the
world, to Pinachicha Volcano. They ziplined

upside down over waterfalls in Banos de Agua
Santa. They took turns milking a cow and
riding a donkey literally in the clouds while in
Guamote’s mountains. They visited the Mitad
del Mundo museum at the equator. They even
ate guinea pig (pronounced “cuy” in Quechua
for their high-pitched sounds), a national
delicacy! As Courtney Rouse, B.S. Mechanical
Engineering ’15, put it, “The MEDLIFE
brigade was a great way to experience the
unique culture of a different part of the world
all while contributing service to provide free
healthcare and improve education in a third
world country. It was truly an unforgettable
experience and I would recommend it to
anyone, whether you’re looking to go into a
health related field or not.”

MEDLIFE at IIT would like to thank
everyone in the [IT community who supported
this trip financially, especially Dean DePaola
from Armour College of Engineering, Dean
Betts from College of Science, the Student
Activities Fund, and all who participated
in their fundraisers. If you’re interested in
getting involved with MEDLIFE-IIT, please
email medlife@iit.edu and make sure to stop
by the organization’s informational table
during Welcome Week’s Student Organization
Festival. The organization looks forward to see
where next year’s medical brigade will take
them and they hope you can join!

    

Photos courtesy of 15312 Malinauskaite