Haitian Relief

This blog exists  to connect and support UNCG inntiatives for the relief of Haiti. Please use the comment function to respond to any posts and volunteer your support. If you would like something posted please email Emily Kamischke at emkamisc@uncg.edu with a copy/paste version of your post with the understanding that content may be edited. To navigate towards posts of your interest please use the categories section on the right side of this page. For example, if you are looking for an event to attend please follow the “events” category to posts about specific events.

Haiti Awareness Week: Solidarity through education

The UNCG’s Hope for Haiti idea was conceived as a result of a desire by the current Homecoming (FallFest) King and Queen to create a campus-wide service initiative as a precedent for future Homecoming contenders. After the devastation in Haiti in January, we realized the tremendous impact the earthquake had on Haiti and even members of our own student body. As a result we initially partnered with OLSL, Greek Life, and IMPACT-a leadership development class taught by Preston Yarborough to develop a program to have continued awareness concerning Haiti. Over the course of the planning process we have established many more partners in the university community and are looking forward to the continued support for Haitian relief and awareness.

While in the planning phase, we predicted that media coverage post-Spring Break would significantly decline and less attention would be paid to this very important issue, which proved to be true. Moreover, we also discovered that a student in our community was deeply affected by the tragedies the earthquake brought to Haiti. This particular student’s family owned a company in Haiti and has been significantly strained as a result of the destruction. Knowing the supportive environment that UNCG encompasses, we are attempting to establish a framework for the community to be able to help one of our own students. One-hundred percent of the fundraising efforts for this event will be donated to this student with the remaining funds being donated to UNICEF.

The event consists of a five day camp-out where members of the university community are invited to raise awareness and funds for Haiti relief. The first night, April 24 at 10pm, students will set up cardboard boxes in front of the fountain and camp out overnight to begin to raise awareness. On April 25, the Interior Architecture Department and students in the department have allowed us to use “Make-Shift shelters” over the course of the week. As an educational activity students will attempt to assemble the shelters over the weekend. April 26, student organizations have been invited to participate

April 27, an educational event will be held in the Multicultural Resource Center in the EUC from 5-7pm. Students will be “Skyping” the Assistant Director of St. Joseph Orphanage in Haiti and meeting with Red Cross Disaster Relief workers. The culmination of the program is a final push for fundraising and a raffle on April 28, follow by the final camp out. The event will be broken down April 29 at 8am.

Throughout the week students will be raising funds, promoting two campus concerts on May 4 and 5 which are also raising funds for Haitian relief.

The link for a secure online donation directly to the cause is: https://pikappaalpha-lambdarho.celect.org/contributions

We can also be found on Facebook. The group is entitled, “UNCG’s Hope for Haiti.”

Benefit concert for Haiti – School of Music

The concert will be at the Recital Hall, School of Music (100 McIver St. Greensboro, NC 27413). Wednesday, May 5, at 7.30pm. Our Faculty and students will collaborate in creating a great musical evening. $ 5 entrance fee will be available one hour prior to the concert, extra donations are welcomed. All proceeds will benefit Partners in Health. Gently used blankets will be collected at the door.

Want to know what’s going on in Haiti? Ask the Doctor.

Want to know what’s going on in Haiti? Ask the Doctor.
The African American Studies Program Presents: 
“Understanding Haiti: A View from Angele Theard, M.D.”
Maple Room EUC, UNCG
Monday, March 29 2010
11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Dr. Theard is an Anesthesiologist at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Port- Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Port-Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon who spent ten days in
Haiti as part of a medical/surgical group through Medical Teams International in Tigard, Oregon. national in Tigard, Oregon. national in Tigard, Oregon.  She is the daughter of Haitian immigrants.

Hygiene Kits Given to Local Church for Distribution in Haiti

Friday Feb. 23rd, Office of Leadership and Service-Learning delieverd 175 hygiene kits to Christ United Methodist Church in Greensboro. They will ship the kits to Haiti early next week.  Thank you all for your donations and much needed hard work that it took to get these kits together. Special thanks to ALD, Human Resources, the Athletics Department, University Advancement, Spring Garden Apartments, and all individual donors.

Haiti Relief Rally

Join NPHC for their Haiti Relief Rally Friday, February 12th from 7pm-9pm. The event is being held in the EUC Cone Ballroom with 100% of the proceeds going to UNICEF. Cash only donations will be taken. For more information please contact Stevan Dozier at ssdozier@uncg.edu.

Haiti Awareness Week; Solidarity through Education

How much do you know about Haiti? Its history, culture, and people? How can we show solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters through informing ourselves and others about Haiti?

Let’s have a ‘Haiti Awareness Week’! Throughout this week, various events will take place on multiple topics, with the goal of highlighting Haiti’s rich and vibrant culture and the history of its people. This is a good opportunity to educate the university and our local community about Haiti, and in the process, allow us to have a better appreciation of the Haiti we know today and the strength and resilience of the Haitian people.

There are many ways we could find to communicate information about Haiti to the community, some of which may include: organizing a Creole workshop, sponsoring a Caribbean dance workshop, facilitating a Haitian documentary and discussion, coordinating a Haitian-African Dinner, supervising student presentations, celebrating prominent Haitians and their Music and Arts.

You are cordially invited to an informational meeting to share your thoughts and ideas about the event on Thursday, February 18^th, from 5:30-7:30 pm in PETTY 136. It will take the full support of the UNCG and the Greensboro community to make this event a success. We look forward to seeing you there!

UNCG members please RSVP at:https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/uncg.edu/viewform?formkey=dDVhWjlfdUlIR2lyVzVTdGV4UGxhVmc6MA. If you are a member of the Greensboro community please RSVP to Reem Disu at radisu@uncg.edu.

Makeshift Shelter Announcement

Image by Edgar Cabrera

Where: Lobby of Gatewood Studio Arts Building

When: Friday January 29, 2010 at 3:00pm – 5:00pm

(installation begins at 9:00am)

In the wake of the devastating earthquake that recently hit Haiti, we cannot help but think how fortunate we are to have shelter that offers protection from outside elements and, equally important,  affords us with a sense of security.

In an effort to bring more awareness to the responsibility that designers have in providing shelter to all, the first project undertaken in the second year afternoon studio has challenged teams of students to design a “Makeshift Shelter” constructed using only found objects.

We invite you to join us on Friday to participate in the presentation of these shelters. As a participant you will be able to talk with the student designers, walk though the shelter community, and experience the interiors of these shelters that all accommodate different activities. We invite you to not only interact with the final creations but encourage you to observe the installation process that will begin at 9:00am on Friday in the Lobby of the Gatewood Studio Arts Building.

In order to help with the relief effort for Haiti, we will be working with IIDA to collect donations for the American Red Cross during both the installation and presentation event on Friday. We hope you are able to participate in this event. This event is open to all, so please feel free to share this event with others in the Greensboro Community.

America Red Cross Buckets

As an American Red Cross volunteer, Dr. Cherry Callahan (cmcallah@uncg.edu, 145 Mossman Building) has available a limited number of Red Cross stickers that can be placed on a bucket or small box for the purposes of collecting money at any event for which the Red Cross is the beneficiary.  Please contact her or Martha Wagner at 334-5099 if you have a need for these.  Dr. Callahan is also willing to be the “courier” for donations to the Red Cross and you are welcome to bring collected funds to her office between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday-Friday after which she will take the money to the Greensboro Chapter of the American Red Cross Office on Yanceyville Street.  Please advise her if this is something you wish her to do.

We can help spread the word about UNCG Haiti Relief projects and events!

The Office of Multicultural Affairs promotes special UNCG events on the “billboard” slide show running on weekdays on the large monitor at the entrance of the Multicultural Resource Center in the EUC. If you would like your special Haiti Relief project or event included in the show, call the office at 336.334.5090 or email the details to Barbara_King@uncg.edu . Attach a flyer about the event or photographs to share if you have them. We’ll help you get the word out to the campus community.

Zanmi-UNCG:Standing in Solidarity with the People of Haiti

On January 28, members of the UNCG community invite the greater Greensboro community to join us as we stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti. Zanmi-UNCG (zanmi is the Haitian Creole word for “partner”) is a large group of students, faculty and staff who have joined together to present an evening of music and fellowship. The fun begins at 7:30 pm in the Sullivan Science Building with free parking available in the McIver parking garage near the Sullivan Building.
In addition to a wonderfully eclectic program of music that will include contributions from six different groups/individuals all of whom are donating their time and talent, there will be raffle drawings throughout the evening for a large number of restaurant and services gift certificates as well as some great durable items (all of them new and donated by area businesses) (e.g. a giant Gund stuffed dog).

Throughout the evening, we will also be conducting a silent auction. Items that have been donated for the auction include a generous gift of two museum-quality Zulu ceramic pots from South Africa donated by Dr. Elizabeth Perrill of the UNCG Art Department. Other items include a First Nations woven basket from the Pacific Northwest, a large Peruvian folk art retablo signed by the artist, and early North Carolina pottery. We will also feature a Haitian steel drum sculpture, handmade jewelry, knit scarves, and hand-painted tee-shirts for children. There are generous gift certificates and donations from local spas, jewelry stores, restaurants, home furnishing stores, grocery markets, clothing stores, pet stores, music shops, and framing specialists. The donations continue to come in; a full list of donors will be available on the night of the event.

The purpose of the event is to raise money to contribute to the medical relief effort currently underway in Haiti. All proceeds will be donated to the international organization, Partners In Health (PIH). Partners has been working in Haiti for more than 25 years and, with their Haitian community partners, operate a large medical complex in Cange in the Central Plateau with several satellite hospitals and clinics in the same region. They are consistently rated at the top of non-profits in terms of their effectiveness and the impressively high ratio of their funding that goes directly to their programs (rather than administrative or other costs). Charity Navigator has awarded them its highest ranking (4-stars) and a recent article in the New York Times listed them as one of the most effective organizations currently dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
If you have any questions or would like to donate an item for the silent auction, please contact Dr. Joan E. Paluzzi (jepaluzz@uncg.edu or 336.402.1460) or Dr. Sarah Wagner (sewagner@uncg.edu). For more info, view poster here.