HKS Asks What We Can Do With Haiti
by Michael Zakaras, News Asst. Editor on February 16, 2010 in News
By Emily Janoch, MPP’11
Since the January 12 earthquake in Haiti that killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced about one million more, the Harvard community has worked together to find ways to help in Haiti and closer to home. The third largest community of Haitian-Americans lives in Boston and at least 75 people from Harvard have been personally affected. While students at the Kennedy School are beginning to mobilize, some feel more needs to be done.
Those leading relief efforts include Partners in Health (PIH), an organization that works closely with Harvard’s Medical and Public Health schools. PIH has been at the center of the response, coordinating medical teams and supply chains. Dr. Allen Counter from the Harvard Foundation took a team of Harvard Medical School doctors with supplies to Port-au-Prince to set up emergency clinics. And Harvard University’s Credit Union set up a fund for its employees personally affected by the crisis.
The Kennedy School dedicated its first Forum of 2010 to the crisis. Local Haitian-American elected officials emphasized the need for a locally owned strategy, supported by technical assistance from the international community to Haitian institutions. Reflecting a debate within the development community, Kennedy School professor Ricardo Hausmann recommended that an external agency manage the recovery process and that Haiti should focus its efforts on building an export economy with the Dominican Republic in order to spur growth.
To date, students have focused their efforts on raising money and supplies to meet immediate relief needs. During the first week of school, tables in the Forum raised over $800 in student donations to support relief efforts. A fundraising mixer at Redline raised $1300 for a local Haitian organization. Rahim Kahani, a Research Assistant at the Hauser Center, worked with his colleagues to organize an event at Om Restaurant that raised nearly $7,000 for Partners in Health. And the KSSG’s first Quorum Call raised an additional $800 for the American Red Cross.
Project Denise, started by a Haitian Mid-Career/MPA alum, has mobilized $20,000 and 12 doctors to visit Haiti. In addition, the Student Alliance for Global Health at Harvard is organizing a benefit concert and other activities. Current Mid-Career/MPA student Bill Forry, editor of the Boston Haitian Reporter and married to a Haitian-American Massachusetts State Representative, has been working with other local and state officials to provide relief and support to local Haitians. Mid-Career/MPA student Craig Hoffman plans to put his engineering skills to use in the rebuilding process.
Of course, immediate relief is just the first step in a much longer and more complicated road to recovery.
HKS/MIT student Ashley Zohn has experience in working in disaster response and recovery. She believes, “Disaster recovery is a long-term process and Haiti needs our long-term commitment. HKS must build partnerships with organizations in Haiti to expand the capacity of Haitians to rebuild. ”
HKS and its affiliated centers have not publicly announced any plans or commitments to support the development of Haiti. HKS is home to students and faculty with experience and knowledge in governance and governing, international development, and disaster response, just to name a few. The Broadmoor project in New Orleans and the Community Development Project in Mississippi are just two examples of HKS coordinating its specialized abilities to help communities in need.
Students like MPP1 Melanie Vant are pushing for a similar coordinated, sustainable effort for Haiti. So during the first week of the spring semester, Melanie brought together a group of students and staff members to start HKS with Haiti. The initiative aims to mobilize and coordinate a comprehensive and sustainable response from our community. “We hope to work in partnership with the school’s leadership, faculty, and staff ambitiously leverage HKS resources and power, in alignment with Haitian-defined priorities,” said Vant.
Some of the ideas that the group is pursuing include:
- supporting local Haitian-American community organization(s)
- spurring institutional responses from the Kennedy School (its centers, faculty, student groups, etc.), particularly to advance Haiti’s long-term development
- facilitating direct student involvement through client-based class exercises, internships, and PAE and SYPA projects for 2011
- coordinating a more robust and sustainable fundraising campaign at Harvard University and in the local community
- mobilizing political activism to inform and advance policy priorities that will be key for Haiti’s development
“We must go beyond asking ourselves what we can do to asking ourselves what we must do to stand in solidarity with Haiti,” said Vant.
According to its founders, HKS with Haiti is ultimately meant to ensure that as a community, students at the Kennedy school stay engaged and work together to provide the best of our unique skills to Haiti’s recovery process.
To stay involved, join the HKS with Haiti email list:
Send a completely blank email with no subject line to
subscribe-hkswithhaiti@lists.hks.harvard.edu
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