Music, art, poetry and dancing made “A Night for Haiti” fun, and helped raise almost $3,000 to rebuild a co-ed primary school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Le Petit Train School was one of many buildings destroyed by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck near Port-au-Prince in January. All proceeds from “A Night for Haiti,” which was held on April 9 at the Soroptimist House, will be sent to Haiti to rebuild the school.
Gina Vella and her mother run Coeur d’Amour (Love from the Heart), a nongovernmental organization aiming to assist families in the neighborhoods of her youth. Vella grew up in Port-au-Prince and moved to California in 1976.
“We found [the school] through Gina,” event coordinator Jon Brown said. “She’s been trying to rebuild the school since the earthquake and we wanted to make our money go to the grassroots level.”
Brown said he feels the event provides a much stronger personal connection to Haiti.
“We know that our money is going to the children rather than paying for somebody’s salary,” Brown said. “It makes me feel good to know that every single bit of the money is actually going to help the children and improve their education.”
Vella spoke about the school during the event and about the conditions in Haiti, including the difficulties the city is facing. Vella visited Haiti after the earthquake and found the devastation was worse than she imagined.
“I hope that you will be able to see a little bit of the fruit of your donations today,” Vella said.
The only funding going to Le Petit Train School is from Vella’s personal donations and the donations generated from “A Night for Haiti.” Right now, the government is focusing on rebuilding high schools, and other public services like hospitals, according to Vella.
Justine David, sophomore psychology major, said that more people came than she expected.
“The event was good because we could make a personal connection with Gina,” David said. “People can see directly where their money is going.”
A poetry reading took place in English, French and Creole. Some poems were prepared specifically for the event, and others were read spontaneously.
Julian Marcelin, senior creative writing major, read his poem “Terrible 22’s.” He thought the event had a great turnout.
“It was great motivation for helping our fellow man,” Marcelin said.
Throughout the event there was a silent auction, in which 17 pieces of art and two wine baskets were auctioned.
There was also live art in the making by Otis alumnus Devin Week. He is creating a mural that he takes to different Haiti benefit events. “A Night for Haiti” was the second stop for his mural. Week plans to add a wooden letter to the mural each place he stops, eventually spelling, “Paint Haiti.”
These letters are placed on top of the artwork created at the previous event, so even though a new layer is being added to the piece, the previous layer will be preserved under the letter. When the piece is completed, Week will remove the letters, making each layer of paint visible. Week said the mural is about the forgotten.
“I wanted it to be a collaboration,” he said.
“A Night for Haiti” was presented by the International Studies Student Association, the International Student Association, French Club, the Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures department and the geography department.
“We are still taking donations all the way up until the end of the semester for when we send the money this summer,” Brown said. “If anyone wants to get in contact with myself or any other member of the International Studies Student Association, we’d be glad to have the donations and stay in contact to show pictures of the development of the school.”
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