30 For 30 Ends Fundraising
April 26, 2010 • By Kaleigh Somers,
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HARRISONBURG — After nearly three months, the 30 For 30 campaign finally came to an end Thursday afternoon. Mieka Polanco, a sociology and anthropology professor, hosted a teach-in about Haiti to focus on the country’s positive attributes.
“[Haiti’s] amazing on so many levels,” Polanco said.
Polanco started the campaign on Jan. 25 after receiving university approval to raise money for Haiti. After 74 days, participants raised $10,180.30. The goal had been $30,000 in 30 days; the campaign was extended in late March because the organization had raised about $9,000.
Polanco’s first teach-in kicked off the campaign, educating attendees about the “social, political and economic conditions that caused the earthquake to be so bad for the country.”
Her objective for Thursday’s teach-in was to remind attendees that the country and its people have more to offer than just a poor economy.
“We live in a world that asks us to forget that we’re related to each other,” Polanco said.
She hoped the campaign and its effects would remind people of their international interdependence.
Mary Tacy, a faculty member in the integrated science and technology department, reveled in the country’s natural beauty. Tacy, whose husband is Haitian, has visited the country several times with and without students.
“When I’m in Haiti, I feel so alive because you’re so physically connected to the environment,” Tacy said.
Tacy found many of the Haitians’ values compelling. Unlike American culture, Haitians have a different pace of life.
“They know how to slow down, enjoy life [and] enjoy the world around them,” Tacy said. “It’s a refreshing change from the American need for constant motion.”
Tacy said many Americans focus on diets, but Haitians like to sit down and eat a lot, even if they don’t have the money for food.
Bill Van Norman, a history professor, has done much of his research on slavery in Cuba. He is well-versed in Haiti’s historical background, believing the country has had its share of ups and downs.
“It’s a history of hope but it’s also a history of disappointment in some ways,” Van Norman said. While the country became independent from France in 1804, its people struggled to make an economic transition. Prior to independence, Haitians relied heavily on slave labor.
“Haiti has always been a poor country and has always had problems,” Van Norman said. “A lot of things have been done to Haiti that have held it back.”
According to Van Norman, for a while, France, England and Spain didn’t want to recognize the country as independent. The United States only recently left the country after overseeing much of its governmental positions.
Kurt Ferdinand, a Haitian student at Blue Ridge Community College, agreed.
“205 years [later], we’re still struggling,” Ferdinand said.
Ferdinand does not want sympathy from other countries, though. As an activist for Haiti, U.S. relationships and a Haitian native, Ferdinand disregards the media’s focus on the country as poor.
Growing up on a big farm with lots of siblings, his family epitomized the country’s family-oriented way of life.
“All of us, we supported each other,” Ferdinand said.
He recalled feeling genuinely happy many times throughout his life, only to be told that he was poor, suggesting the two characteristics were exclusive.
Ally Hemler, a sophomore anthropology major, found it refreshing that “the Haitian people are all about helping each other out as part of their natural cultural tendencies.”
She found the entire presentation gave her a sense of appreciation for Haitians’ strength and creativity.
The mainstream media “never told you about the evidences of great cultural and historical sights and sounds of Haiti’s civilization,” Ferdinand said.
The money raised during 30 For 30 will go to Partners in Health, a medical assistance program; the Haiti Outreach Foundation; and Fonkoze, a nonprofit organization that gives loans to people in rural areas of Haiti.
contact Kaleigh Somers at somerske@dukes.jmu.edu
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