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.
Following the lunch, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. there will be a Barefoot Soccer Event, where students and community members will be able to play pick-up barefoot soccer games. The games will be held on the Turf practice fields across from Lane Stadium, and participants are asked to bring both a dark and light shirt to make teams.
The games, which will be organized mostly by Tech’s Haitian students, were an idea that came about just by asking the students what they would be doing in Haiti.
“In planning, we asked the Haitian students on the advisory committee what games they’d be playing at home with their friends, and they said they all play soccer, just without shoes,” Gambrel said.
Following the events, there will be a showcase of student projects in Haiti in the Burruss Hall Lobby area, leading into the Ambassador’s speech at 7 p.m. Following the speech there will be a question and answer period with Joseph, followed by student presentations and performances.
“The tribute event will be an opportunity to hear from the ambassador and also showcase different student and faculty perspectives on Haiti,” said curriculum and instruction doctorate student and opinions writer for The Collegiate Times, Ray Plaza. Plaza, who has been heavily involved with the planning of Thursday’s events, is most looking forward to Joseph’s speech.
“It will be an opportunity to give a broader insight into the whole Haitian culture,” Plaza said.
According to its organizers, the aim of Thursday’s series of events is to bring the Tech community together to learn more about Haitian culture while continuing to raise support for the country. One day before the anniversary of April 16th, Gambrel feels that Tech has been especially supportive of relief efforts in Haiti because of the shared feeling of compassion after the Blacksburg tragedy.
“We’ve had tragedy in the past and have seen others come together to help us in our time of need,” Gambrel said. “I think Hokies have a lot to contribute because we know how important it is to rise up as a community and help each other heal after suffering a great loss.”