W&M’s Commitment to Haiti

The first W&M Haiti Compact alternative break, which had been designed as a response by the College in coalition with other universities around the country to the 2010 Haitian earthquake, is back on track for a May 2011 trip.

The trip had been originally scheduled for January 2011, but was canceled just over a week prior to departure because of a spike in violence in Haiti as a result of fraud and corruption surrounding the primary Presidential elections. During that cancellation, our team learned a great deal about how sometimes the most effective service you can render a community is by not imposing yourself upon it in a time of uncertainty.

Since that cancellation, the team has had important conversations with the College, and community partners on the ground, as to what measures must be in place to ensure maximum trip effectiveness and safety for our students. Despite the disappointment inherent in the cancellation of the originally scheduled trip time, it was the right thing for the College to do to ensure that we’re serving both Haiti and our students in the best way possible.

The Haiti trip has taught the Office of Community Engagement and Scholarship, and the College, a valuable lesson about sending students to the world’s most troubled countries. In the wake of the recent disasters in Japan, the College is assessing how it handles liability and safety in countries on the U.S. State Department’s warning list. As a co-leader of the Haiti Compact, this trip will be one of W&M’s first experiments into how we conduct business and prepare for alternative breaks in a country prone to frequent instability. Last week, leaders in the College’s administration, myself, and my co-leader Kylee Ponder ’12, met to lay down the criteria that would be necessary to ensure a productive trip to Port au Prince in May with our team of 6 other students and OCES’ Melody Porter. The Risk Assessment meeting was a productive dialogue between all relevant parties on the kinds of work we can do and benefit from in Haiti. I feel both confident and assured that we move forward in planning for our May 17th departure with all relevant possibilities and situations prepared for. Our trip, in its experimentation, will continue to lend its valuable lessons to the College and to all future international service and engagement at W&M.

I’m proud of the persistence of our amazing team, and equally impressed by their commitment to social justice, issue education, and active advocacy for Haiti and its people as the small island nation develops itself after political turmoil, a cholera epidemic, and a crippling earthquake in the past year. Our experienced community partners’ dedication to William and Mary, and the belief that our students have much to learn from and experience in Haiti, is compelling and appreciated.

I could not be happier to be a part of this amazing and important trip for the College with the help of such a wonderful team, administration, and partners on the ground in Haiti. I’ve learned more than ever from this service experience all the considerations that need to go into making sure effectiveness and safety are prioritized for W&M as it serves communities both far and near. I’m also tremendously gratified by this college’s responsible, and timely, approach to both aid and citizenship.