UVU student brings humanitarian efforts to El Salvador for second time

 

Maggie TobarMaggie Tobar, a senior studying community health at Utah Valley University, will return in May to El Salvador, where she served an internship last year, to bring sustainable hygiene kits and girls underwear to the developing country.

 

Tobar created her own internship to serve El Salvador last year. She has since led a girls' underwear drive with UVU’s Community Health Club and partnered on a service project with Days for Girls and the Women’s Success Center on campus for UVU students and community members to create sustainable feminine hygiene kits that she can bring back with her on her second journey.

 

The purpose of Tobar’s latest trip is not only to bring knowledge of feminine hygiene to girls and women in communities of El Salvador, but to complete research with her mentor Sarah Hall, assistant professor at UVU, to ultimately lead others to implement plans to overcome feminine hygiene barriers in El Salvador in the future.   

 

“One of my goals is to publish our data and create a permanent internship in El Salvador so that future UVU students can go and help others, and make it their passion, as it is my passion, to help others,” said Tobar. “UVU has so many great resources for students to get involved with helping others­– there is no excuse; there is nothing you can’t do, especially through UVU.”

 

As with the last trip, Tobar will partner with Save the Children, a non-profit that is already serving those in El Salvador’s communities, to reach those in need.

 

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About Utah Valley University

At 37,282 students and growing, Utah Valley University is the largest public university in the state of Utah and one of a few in the nation offering a dual-mission model that combines the rigor and richness of a first-rate teaching university with the openness and vocational programs of a community college. UVU’s unique model, which focuses on student success, engaged learning, rigorous academic programs and faculty-mentored research, is transforming higher education by making it more affordable and accessible to students of all backgrounds.