Collegiate Times

Members of Hens for Haiti raised money this weekend at the International Street Fair

When members of the Virginia Tech community got word of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti on Jan 14th, it wasn’t long before multiple organizations and community members combined their efforts to reach out to the devastated country.

“Our support after the earthquake has shown that Hokies are united,” Josh Gambrel said, Community Liaison at the Cranwell International center. Four months later, the focus on supporting Haiti is still very much a priority for many of the organizations around campus.

“The university has been involved not only with fundraising, but also with multiple agricultural projects and building educational facilities,” Gambrel said.

In recognition of these efforts, Raymond Joseph, Haitian ambassador to the United States, will be visiting campus on April 15 to meet with university students and faculty as well as Blacksburg community organizations that have taken part in educational and disaster-relief efforts for Haiti. Joseph will be the keynote speaker for a program entitled, “A Tribute to Haiti and Ut Prosim” in Burrus Auditorium at 7p.m. The ambassador’s talk will focus on Tech’s motto “That I may serve.”

“It’s such an honor that the ambassador is coming, and it’s also important that we honor him,” Gambrel said. To honor his visit, multiple organizations have coordinated to organize “Haiti Day,”  a day of events to commemorate the country and to offer continued support for its people.

“The idea is to create a day full of activities to educate the community as well as to continue the ongoing support process that has already started,” Gambrel said. “We want people to gain an insight into how culturally rich Haiti is. It’s more than just an earthquake country.”

Senior political science major Lindsey Francis has been involved with the planning of Haiti Day through the Caribbean Student Organization. Unlike a lot of the other events that were strictly about exposing the devastation and gaining support for Haiti, Francis said that Haiti Day will shed a different light on the tragedy.

“We want to celebrate Haiti while still bringing recognition to what happened there,” she said.

As president of CaribSO, the organization was in charge of booking Pan Masters Steel Orchestra, a steel drum band from Maryland, to play a free show after Joseph speaks.

“We were in charge of getting the band, which we felt was the best way to welcome the Ambassador, with music,” Francis said.

The day’s events will begin at 10 a.m. at the Library Plaza, where students will be able to visit tents to buy Hokies for Haiti shirts as well as show support for Hens for Haiti, a group founded by Tech who’s motto is “feeding the poor, one egg at a time.” Hens for Haiti, who also had a booth at last weekend’s International Street Festival, is working toward developing more sustainable agriculture in Haiti by establishing an egg-laying facility in the city of Gros-Morne.

The day’s events from there will include “Faculty Perspective: Insight into Haitian History” a talk by history professor Dennis Hidalgo at 10:30 a.m. From noon to 1 p.m. the Cranwell International Center will be hosting a Haitian Benefit Lunch (minimum donation $5) of traditional Haitian cuisine; an event that Gambrel is looking forward to.

“We had a group of Haitian students helping us plan everything, so I’m excited to eat some real Haitian food,” Gambrel said.

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A version of this article appeared in the Apr 15 issue of the Collegiate Times.