More than 100 students packed inside of Usdan 108 on Friday for the first meeting of the newly formed Haiti Relief Action Team. Organizers Sabine Vilsaint ’10, Jonna Humphries ’10, Pedro Ventura ’10, and Rahel Haile ’10 shared their ideas for potential relief efforts on campus, which opened up a discussion on the most effective ways for students to contribute to the cause.
Vilsaint, whose parents are from Haiti, began the meeting with a brief history of Haiti, explaining that it was the first independent black republic in the Western Hemisphere. She then gave updates on the current situation after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
“A large portion of the island is devastated right now, not just the capital [Port-Au-Prince],” Vilsaint said at the meeting. “Students at Wesleyan have been affected. People have friends and family there.”
The conversation then shifted to ways the Wesleyan community can contribute. Humphries identified three challenges now facing Haiti: taking care of survivors, cleaning up destruction, and rebuilding. The organizers outlined four potential fundraising events.
Vilsaint announced a formal event for Feb. 6 in Beckham Hall, for which ticket sales will go to a to-work in Haiti. Vilsaint explained that Connecticut has the fifth largest Haitian population in America, so the event will be a celebration of Haitian culture with Haitian food and music.
“I think it will be fun to introduce people to Haitian culture and also to raise money,” she said in an interview with The Argus. “But I also want to educate people about Haiti.”
WesQuisqueya,Ujamaa, Eclectic, X-House, La Casa, and ResLife plan to co-sponsor the event, but Vilsaint noted that they may need other student groups to donate money in order to pay for security.
Although planning for the formal is already in the works, Humphries threw out three other possible fundraisers for the semester as well. She explained that the organizers are working with the Concert Committee to put together one or more concerts that would donate money from ticket sales to Habitat for Humanity or to Care.
“The concerts are a great way of helping people who want to do something to contribute to the cause,” Humphries said at the meeting.
Humphries also proposed a potential blanket and apparel drive. Later in the semester, the organizers hope to do a dinner and discussion with Wesleyan professors who are experts on Haiti, for which students would pay a small price that would go to the cause. Ideally a restaurant in Middletown would donate the food, but details are not clear yet.
Humphries hopes these events will engage as many members of the community as possible and raise money as well as awareness.
“We are trying to find the most substantive way for the Wesleyan community to respond to this crisis,” Humphries said in an interview after the meeting. “We want to figure out which events will best serve the cause and respond to the need in a way that engages our community as a whole and really helps the individuals that need it.”
After detailing the potential events, the organizers opened up the meeting for discussion. Students from several organizations shared fundraising techniques that have worked for their groups in the past, such as setting up a donation box in a central place on campus. A student from WESTAND suggested doing “change for change,” in which group members go door-to-door collecting students’ spare change and then take it to Coinstar to be exchanged for cash to donate to the cause.
Ventura suggested a potential collaboration with Bon Appétit, in which students would be able to donate meals and points to a group doing work on the ground.
Reverend Joan Burnett announced that the gospel concert that was already planned for Feb.12 would potentially partner with the Red Cross.
Elijah Meadow ’13, whose parents work in Haiti, suggested a potential spring break trip to Haiti. Although Meadow expressed concern about the effectiveness of such a trip right now, he felt that students could perhaps play a role in more long-term rebuilding efforts in March.
“If people are inexperienced and go now, they are just going to be consuming more resources than helping,” Meadow said. “But over spring break, if we organize effectively and possibly get some aid training in the coming months, I believe we could really have an impact on Haiti.”
After many students had offered suggestions, Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development Tim Shiner advised that the Haiti Relief Action Team set up a Google doc to discuss various projects. Given that there is a lot to coordinate, Shiner urged students to work together.
“I know at least these three or four or five people have already put in a bunch of time,” he said. “But we need everyone to help. We need people power. Use your past experiences and expertise. Use each other as resources.”
The meeting closed with an opportunity for attendees to sign up to work on potential events.
While they were impressed with how many students attended, the organizers worried that student engagement in the cause would waver once Haiti is no longer front-page news.
“People are going to forget and it’s going to fade in their memories,” Haile said in an interview after the meeting. “But the reality is that efforts in Haiti need to be long-term and structural. Boxes of food and clothing now are great, but we need to continue efforts past January.”
If you are interested in working with the Haiti Relief Action Team, please e-mail Humphries at jhumphries@wesleyan.edu.