BELTON (March 11, 2010)—Two months after the powerful earthquake that left Haiti’s capital in rubble and killed more than 230,000 people, a group of University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students is preparing to spend spring break as part of the relief effort in the island nation.

Sophomore Kassidy Harris was picking out clothes to pack Thursday afternoon.

A picture of a Haitian child on the wall of his room reminded him why he’s giving up his spring break.

"I've never been on an overseas missions trip,” he said, “so I thought it would be a good experience jut to go overseas and be able to play with the kids living in orphanages."

Harris, along with 15 other students and staff are leaving on Saturday with Hope for the Hungry on a weeklong mission trip to help rebuild Gibert, a small village outside of Port-au-Prince.

"We're going to be doing a lot of manual labor, said junior Brittany Beltran.

“We'll be rebuilding a church and if we get to, lay a foundation for a home."

The students know exactly what they'll see.

"Devastation for sure, people who have lost everything, people who are living underneath sheets...who don't have a home,” sophomore Bethany Franz said.

Assistant Director of Campus Activities, Jeff Sutton, said the university and students such as Harris, Beltran and Franz think spring break should be devoted to something more than fun in the sun.

"There are a lot of students who have more than themselves on their mind,” he said.

“These students are sacrificing their time, their money, their energy."