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Welcome

Education


  • Last spring we held a student initiated course on Haiti, in which 30 students participated to learn about Haiti's history, culture, politics, economics and current situation. We considered issues of development and poverty through discussion and with a project consisting of figuring out how to buy enough food to feed a family, on a dollar a day (which is essentially what Haitian peasants live on).
  • We helped organize the first annual Haiti Week brought speakers, films and art presentations to campus. We were honored to have world renowned physician, author and anthropologist Paul Farmer, who runs an AIDS clinic in rural Haiti.
  • Community Day: We prepared posters and information to present at community day, and also had Haitian children's games to share with local kids, so they could learn about how children live in another country.

Service


  • Summer 2004: 4 Students went to the mountains of Latournelle, Haiti for a 2 week service project. While living with families on the mountain of Mon Bouton, we ran an arts camp for the children there, and also had basic literacy classes. We also built rain gutters for the families we were staying with, and visited local development projects to get a sense of what work is and can be done. We support the work of a veterinarian in rural Haiti and the peasant organization he runs.
  • Fundraising: Through community day and collecting donations through dorms, we raised almost $1500 dollars for the veterinary and literacy project in rural Haiti we are working with.
  • Encourage student Research: In the Summer of 2003 3 Students went to the mountains of Latournelle to complete research. While living with a family for two months, two students conducted interviews on mother-daughter communication about HIV/AIDS and one student made a documentary film and research conceptions of government and politics. We have a large number of resources both and on off campus that helped these students find the information and connections they needed.

Looking Ahead


  • Creole: We are starting a Haitian Creole course so students can have an even stronger language background when they go to Haiti. It's easy to pick up for students who already speak French.
  • Discussion Groups: In order to address the many issues facing Haiti, we plan to have a group discussion of an article, news event, poem or other item relevant to Haiti and Haitians at our meetings once a month, until the class begins in the spring. These discussions will allow us to cover topics of international development and keep us informed about what is going in Haiti.
  • Trip Focus: We would like to design the trip according to student interest. There are a lot of problems in rural Haiti that need to be addressed. This year we focused on children and literacy, but there are issues of that require civil or environmental engineers for example. This year, we are considering a public health focused trip, which would look into issues of sanitation and hygiene, animal and human health. Whatever your interest is, we would like your input and would like to tailor the trip to those who participate.
  • Curriculum Changes: There are no Stanford faculty who focus on Haiti. Some address individual nations tangentially in relation to themes, but for the most part, a Stanford student today is hard put to find good and interesting resources on the Caribbean. Haitians are a particular case because they do not fit into "Latin America& because they were colonized by the French, nor Africa, despite historical connections, because of a geographic divide. Because Haiti does not "fit" neatly into one area, it has been ignored altogether. We will talk with relevant departments to encourage them to incorporate Haiti into their curriculums.
  • Whatever you want: Join us, and we will explore areas of Haiti that you are interested in! Meetings: Wednesdays at 9PM