Bryant offers support for those affected by tragedy in Haiti

Campus community encouraged to continue Bryant’s tradition of responsiveness to humanitarian crises.

The Bryant community is committed to helping the people of Haiti who were devastated by a catastrophic earthquake earlier this month. We are continuing our outreach to Bryant students, alumni, and friends who may have been in Haiti at the time of the earthquake. We have received confirmation that both of Bryant's two currently enrolled students from Haiti are safe, although they have endured a traumatic experience.

Several days after the earthquake, Bryant’s Intercultural Center established the “Bryant in ACTION for Haiti” Facebook group to coordinate relief efforts and provide information about those in the Bryant community affected by the tragedy. (Join the Facebook group.)

Bryant is committed to helping the people of Haiti who were devastated by an earthquake on January 12.

Nearly 500 members of the Bryant community have already joined the group. Students interested in helping to organize relief efforts will meet on Wednesday, January 27.

Bryant students, faculty, staff, and alumni are eager to continue the tradition of responsiveness to humanitarian crises and already have made generous donations toward Haitian relief efforts.

Responding to a crisis

According to the European Union Commission, the initial earthquake on January 12killed an estimated 200,000 people, injured 250,000, and left 1.5 million homeless. The International Red Cross estimates that three million people – a third of Haiti's population – may need emergency relief that includes shelter, food, and clean water.

In a notice to the Bryant community several days after the initial earthquake, President Ronald K. Machtley shared that Bryant's two currently enrolled students from Haiti were safe, although they have endured a traumatic experience. Alumni and other members of the Bryant community have also been affected by the tragedy.

Toby Simon, director of Bryant’s Women’s Center and special assistant to the vice president for student affairs, knows firsthand the tribulations faced by the Haitians. Simon and her husband have traveled regularly to Haiti for the last 15 years to train health care workers. They have worked closely with the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, which is located about 90 miles outside of Port-au-Prince.

Simon reports that the hospital did not sustain disabling damage from the earthquake and is now working around the clock with every doctor and nurse available.

“Many houses in the region collapsed from aftershocks and the hospital staff are treating hundreds of trauma patients,” Simon reports. “They are being brought to the hospital in the back of pick-up trucks after riding many hours to get there.” (Read an op-ed piece Toby wrote for the Providence Journal in 2007 about her work in Haiti.)

In a land of despair, Haitians and rescue workers still have hope. A full week after the initial earthquake, survivors were still being pulled from the rubble.

Donations to Haiti's humanitarian efforts will help the more than three million people affected the the earthquake.

Simon is not alone in her humanitarian efforts. The Bryant community has continually shown a willingness to assist around the world in the face of catastrophe.

In May of 2008, Bryant established the U.S.-China Institute China Earthquake Relief Fund to help raise money to rebuild damaged schools in the Sichaun Province. In December of that year, Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley presented Sichuan officials with nearly $7,500 raised by the Bryant community.

Bryant students have also traveled to New Orleans to continue the rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Ties to Haiti

In December 2007, Assistant Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies Maura Coughlin hosted a local artist who talked to her students about her work in Haiti. Ellen Lebow spoke to of her work in Matenwa, a village on Lagonav, an island just off the coast of Haiti that relies on supplies from Port-au-Prince. Lebow helps the local women create elegant scarves that are sold in the United States.

“My hope is that students saw an inspiring example of what can be done to help people in developing countries improve their communities and lives,” said Coughlin.

Events like this are an ideal way to introduce students to unfamiliar parts of the world, she said.

“It is so easy to feel powerless in the face of globalization,” said Coughlin. “This project showed that small, low-tech acts by groups with very limited funding can make a huge economic and social difference in places like Matenwa.”

On Bryant’s campus, the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library is home to a special Haitian Art Collection. The 19 paintings by 15 different Haitian artists were donated by Gladys (Kinoian) Lujan ’56. Included in the display is “Papa Doc and the Ship of Lost Souls,” which was created by the world’s most recognized Haitian artist Jacques-Enguerrand Gourgue.

Stay tuned to the Bryant Web site for updates on how you can help.