The 20-year-old University of Otago student is on a one-term exchange in Chile, where she is studying business and culture at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, in Santiago.
She had been in the country for only a few weeks when the earthquake struck on February 27.
"I was on a bus trip when it happened. The entire bus was going crazy, side to side and front to back," she said.
As the country tried to rebuild, it continued to be hit by aftershocks, she said.
"Every time I feel the earth move, even slightly, my heart skips a beat. This happens to me several times a day."
However, the warmth and generosity shown to her by Chileans surprised her.
"I was amazed at how helpful the Chileans were to us foreigners.
"It should have been every man for themself, but they were helping us."
As soon as she realised the extent of the damage, she began trying to find ways to pay back the support.
Her Canadian friend, Sarah Nation, set up Operation Talcahuano to provide homes in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity Canada.
The project aims to build 10 family homes in the city of Talcahuano, which was wrecked by the quake and following tsunami.
Habitat supplied the group of 100 volunteers with prefabricated houses, which will be transported to each family's land.
However, Operation Talcahuano must pay for the houses.
"We have the manpower, but we still need to raise $60,000," Miss Aarts said.
The next building dates were later this month, but if she had her way she would build houses for her remaining time there.
"I feel like in the grand scheme of things, giving people back their livelihood is far more important than anything else I could be doing."
