Platteville High School graduate Anna Bast will complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the Edgewood College nursing program in May.
Immediately after graduation, Bast will travel with a small group of nurses and nursing students to Cambodia and Laos to provide much needed health care services.
“We’ll be serving approximately 500 children, most of whom have never seen a doctor,” said Bast.
From 1975 to 1979, Cambodia was under dictator rule and experienced the genocide of nearly 3 million people. Those not killed were often displaced, disrupting families and destroying homes and livelihoods. The nation has been poverty stricken for decades.
“This is a service-learning opportunity to put my recently acquired nursing skills to good use while helping those in need,” said Bast. “I think of it as a mini-Peace Corps experience.”
In addition to paying their own travel costs, the contingent of nurses must gather a variety of medical (medications, syringes, bandages, etc.) and health care supplies (soap, tooth paste, etc.). Each nurse is expected to collect enough supplies to serve 100 patients.
Bast is a 2011 PHS graduate who is familiar to many as a lifeguard and assistant manager at the Platteville Family Aquatic Center.
To help with a donation, a check, payable to Edgewood College (memo line: Bast Cambodia May 2015), may be sent to Anna Bast at 1015 N. Fourth St., Platteville, WI 53818.