Haiti Now and Wharton's Response
Udochi Nwogu (WG'11)
Issue date: 4/26/10 Section: News
Three months ago the country of Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake. The world rallied around them and Wharton, as many other communities, came together in an effort to provide support to those most affected. Since that time, the world's attention has turned from Haiti. No longer do we see the hours long coverage on the disaster; and we no longer see headlines across multiple media outlets highlighting the devastation and destruction left in the wake of the quake.
However, despite this turn of attention from Haiti and despite the fact that our attention as a nation has shifted from Haiti to other issues closer to home and those more recent in our minds, the efforts to rebuild a decimated country continues.
So after three months, where do the efforts in Haiti stand? For most of us the last images of Haiti that we were left with were those of people still being pulled out of the concrete and steel that had entombed them following the earthquake and those of tent cities sprouting up as people created makeshift homes out of plastic sheets and any other materials that they could gather up. Since that time, while some things have changes in Haiti, a lot still remains the same.
As to the progress that has been made in the efforts for Haiti, over $5 billion have been pledged for reconstruction. In addition, the rebuilding efforts have gained strong and visible leadership in President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean- Max Bellerive who are to jointly chair the Interim Committee for the Reconstruction of Haiti.
Efforts have also begun to move people out of the tent cities- most of which are located on open fields and hills- to safer and more permanent camps. Thus far, two camps have been created with sturdy anti-seismic housing that can hold ten thousand people. However, the process of moving people out of these tent cities to more permanent housing still remains slow. An estimated 1.3 million people were living in the streets across 1200 camps. Thus, much time still remains before all can be moved.
Also along the lines of progress in the efforts to restore the country to normalcy, schools have begun to slowly startup once more. In a recent visit by US first lady Michelle Obama to Haiti, one of the sites visited was a school set up for children in tent cities. However the school could be best described as makeshift as it was housed within buses and all the children could do was to paint and color. Thus, needless to say, while things have begun to improve, the process is moving slowly and normalcy still is yet to be restored. However, despite these still lingering difficulties, for the most part students are acclimating to the conditions in the country. A school director in Port-au-Prince, Mme Astride Rouchon, who was quoted in Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's oldest paper, said of the children: "The children are adapting to the situation more easily than the adults. Being back to school helps them occupy themselves and alleviate some of the stress."
Wharton's Efforts
As most of the Wharton student body is most likely now aware of, the earthquake in Haiti led to the creation of a new course on Disaster Response. However, what many students are not aware of is the process that led to the initiation of the course.
The creation of the course was spearheaded by Neil Parikh WG '10 and Adam Small WG '10. Following the earthquake in Haiti in January, Neil and Adam wanting to do more than just donate money, contacted over 30 aid organizations with the aim in mind to offer their business expertise in their disaster relief efforts. Neil and Adam were overwhelmed by the quick and resounding response they received from the aid organizations they contacted.
In response to this strong demand for assistance they received from aid organizations, Neil and Adam devised a two pronged approach to allow them to provide strategic advice to the aid organizations. Neil and Adam were joined in their efforts by Alexis Bernstein (WG '10), Ned May (WG'10), Joey Zwillinger (WG '10), and Pablo Lema (WG '10). Together, they organized student led teams to provide assistance to the aid organizations and began working with the faculty and administration to build a multi-disciplinary curriculum. February 25th was the date on which the first meeting with faculty and administration was held. The meeting was held with the purpose of gauging support for the course. On March 17th, Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond, was launched as a elective for the fourth quarter.
The course had overwhelming support from the student body with more than 120 students expressing interest in the course and 45 formally enrolling. Furthermore, faculty from multiple disciplines and Penn's schools supported and featured as lecturers. In addition, leaders such as Dr. Rodney Finalle, Director of Global Health at UPENN and Joseph F. Bruno, Commissioner of the NYC Office of Emergency Management attended as guest speakers.
The course continues to enjoy support from the student body with many asking how they can be more involved in the course going forward. Because of this, a team composed of students and faculty has come together with the goal of institutionalizing the course and positioning Wharton as a thought leader in disaster response. Steps to achieve this going forward include making the course a semester long class, creating project based work through Wharton offerings such as FAP, and integrating disaster response into Wharton's existing programs such as WIVP, Leadership Ventures, and SBDC.
All in all, the leadership shown by Wharton students on this issue and the overwhelming support the initiative has received from students strike at the core of what defines the Wharton spirit- that of leveraging the abundance of knowledge at Wharton and its global influence to achieve lasting impact in the society in which we live.
However, despite this turn of attention from Haiti and despite the fact that our attention as a nation has shifted from Haiti to other issues closer to home and those more recent in our minds, the efforts to rebuild a decimated country continues.
So after three months, where do the efforts in Haiti stand? For most of us the last images of Haiti that we were left with were those of people still being pulled out of the concrete and steel that had entombed them following the earthquake and those of tent cities sprouting up as people created makeshift homes out of plastic sheets and any other materials that they could gather up. Since that time, while some things have changes in Haiti, a lot still remains the same.
As to the progress that has been made in the efforts for Haiti, over $5 billion have been pledged for reconstruction. In addition, the rebuilding efforts have gained strong and visible leadership in President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean- Max Bellerive who are to jointly chair the Interim Committee for the Reconstruction of Haiti.
Efforts have also begun to move people out of the tent cities- most of which are located on open fields and hills- to safer and more permanent camps. Thus far, two camps have been created with sturdy anti-seismic housing that can hold ten thousand people. However, the process of moving people out of these tent cities to more permanent housing still remains slow. An estimated 1.3 million people were living in the streets across 1200 camps. Thus, much time still remains before all can be moved.
Also along the lines of progress in the efforts to restore the country to normalcy, schools have begun to slowly startup once more. In a recent visit by US first lady Michelle Obama to Haiti, one of the sites visited was a school set up for children in tent cities. However the school could be best described as makeshift as it was housed within buses and all the children could do was to paint and color. Thus, needless to say, while things have begun to improve, the process is moving slowly and normalcy still is yet to be restored. However, despite these still lingering difficulties, for the most part students are acclimating to the conditions in the country. A school director in Port-au-Prince, Mme Astride Rouchon, who was quoted in Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's oldest paper, said of the children: "The children are adapting to the situation more easily than the adults. Being back to school helps them occupy themselves and alleviate some of the stress."
Wharton's Efforts
As most of the Wharton student body is most likely now aware of, the earthquake in Haiti led to the creation of a new course on Disaster Response. However, what many students are not aware of is the process that led to the initiation of the course.
The creation of the course was spearheaded by Neil Parikh WG '10 and Adam Small WG '10. Following the earthquake in Haiti in January, Neil and Adam wanting to do more than just donate money, contacted over 30 aid organizations with the aim in mind to offer their business expertise in their disaster relief efforts. Neil and Adam were overwhelmed by the quick and resounding response they received from the aid organizations they contacted.
In response to this strong demand for assistance they received from aid organizations, Neil and Adam devised a two pronged approach to allow them to provide strategic advice to the aid organizations. Neil and Adam were joined in their efforts by Alexis Bernstein (WG '10), Ned May (WG'10), Joey Zwillinger (WG '10), and Pablo Lema (WG '10). Together, they organized student led teams to provide assistance to the aid organizations and began working with the faculty and administration to build a multi-disciplinary curriculum. February 25th was the date on which the first meeting with faculty and administration was held. The meeting was held with the purpose of gauging support for the course. On March 17th, Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond, was launched as a elective for the fourth quarter.
The course had overwhelming support from the student body with more than 120 students expressing interest in the course and 45 formally enrolling. Furthermore, faculty from multiple disciplines and Penn's schools supported and featured as lecturers. In addition, leaders such as Dr. Rodney Finalle, Director of Global Health at UPENN and Joseph F. Bruno, Commissioner of the NYC Office of Emergency Management attended as guest speakers.
The course continues to enjoy support from the student body with many asking how they can be more involved in the course going forward. Because of this, a team composed of students and faculty has come together with the goal of institutionalizing the course and positioning Wharton as a thought leader in disaster response. Steps to achieve this going forward include making the course a semester long class, creating project based work through Wharton offerings such as FAP, and integrating disaster response into Wharton's existing programs such as WIVP, Leadership Ventures, and SBDC.
All in all, the leadership shown by Wharton students on this issue and the overwhelming support the initiative has received from students strike at the core of what defines the Wharton spirit- that of leveraging the abundance of knowledge at Wharton and its global influence to achieve lasting impact in the society in which we live.
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