Thirteen months after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, Bowdoin students chose this week to remember the disaster and to continue to show their support for the Haitian people.
The Bowdoin Haitian Alliance (BHA) is the main sponsor of "Hope for Haiti Week 2011," a week of events designed to raise both awareness of the continuing effects of the earthquake and funds for four Haitian children to attend Institution Verret, a private school in Port-au-Prince.
"We decided to go for a structural approach, which is why we decided to focus on education...because we [Bowdoin] are a school," said Alain Mathieu '12, leader of the BHA.
Mathieu explained that he spoke with the principal of Institution Verret and asked her to admit four promising children who would otherwise not be able to pay for private education; money raised from this past week would pay for the tuition of the four.
"We figured that cutting out a middleman [such as a charity] would be good, too," said Mathieu.
Referring to the financial outreach that numerous organizations received last year following the earthquake, Mathieu pointed out the lack of transparency and concrete results.
"It appears that a lot of money was being thrown in, but we haven't seen many results," said Matheiu.
The money raised from the various events this week will support four scholarships for one academic year. Mathieu said that BHA is waiting to see how everything works out this year before discussing plans to continue the scholarships for another academic year.
Bowdoin's Amnesty International group lent support by sponsoring a bake sale on Monday. According to Amnesty International Co-President Jillian Berkman '12, the sale raised $123.
"[It] was well over $100, which is pretty successful for a bake sale," said Berkman.
Tuesday, which Mathieu described as the "big awareness day," included a lecture by Andora Project Founder Rachel Pierre entitled "What is Needed for Sustainable Haiti: The Role of NGOs."
The presentation was followed by a brown bag lunch discussion with Pierre, Bowdoin faculty and members of BHA on Wednesday.
However, like Amnesty International, whose mission is to respond to human rights issues specifically, other organizations still chose to contribute to the cause despite not having a direct link to the relief efforts in Haiti.
On Wednesday night, Hassan Muhammad '10 returned to Bowdoin to perform a jazz piano concert, and all donations and proceeds were added to the scholarship fund.
Local Brunswick businesses Gelato Fiasco and O'Sheas Eatery and Pub also held fundraisers yesterday. Gelato Fiasco held an event titled "Gelato for Haiti" and O'Sheas held a "Party for a Cause."
However, the student performances that were originally scheduled to take place at Jack Magee's Pub tonight were canceled due to problems getting the event organized.
Other events last weekend, such as the ValJam concert hosted by a cappella groups Miscellania and The Longfellows, collected donations for "Hope for Haiti Week 2011" at the door. BHA also sponsored a raffle during the men's hockey game against Trinity last Friday.
Berkman spoke to the willingness to raise awareness and contributions on campus.
"What's really nice is that people donate more money...or just come and donate," she said.
Although "Hope for Haiti Week 2011" will conclude today, the efforts of the past week will be remembered as four elementary school children head off to school in the coming year.