Editor,
Last week’s read-in for Haitian relief gave me an opportunity to see my colleagues, students and the local business community for what they really are. I sent out a call last Thursday to UNM faculty asking them to read famous Haitian literature for a fundraiser benefiting victims of the earthquake. Permanent and part-time faculty responded within hours, wanting to help in any way possible.
Despite the beginning of the semester textbook and equipment costs, student after student found some cash to contribute to the Haitian relief. Several graduate students, and, in particular, members of the Student Organization for Latin American Studies, even found time in a hectic first week of classes to work at the fundraiser. Local merchants and salespeople (from Pearson publishing, UNM Bookstore, Flying Star, Betty’s Bath and Day Spa, Nob Hill Yoga, Aqui, Zinc, and Laru ni Hati) were equally represented. They contributed gift certificates for the fundraiser raffle within 24 hours of being asked to help. Together, we raised about $1,400 for the Haitian relief efforts of Partners in Health and the American Red Cross.
Anyone who did not get a chance to contribute last week can still contribute on campus by placing monetary donations in the collection buckets that ASUNM Community Experience has located at food vendors in the SUB. If you want to learn more about Haiti, you might start by reading some of the work of the Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, or the Haitians Lyonel Trouillot and Marie-Vieux Chauvet, and then continue on with the work of historians like C.L.R. James, Michel-Rolph Trouillot and Laurent M. DuBois. On a cold and stormy first week of the semester the UNM community showed true generosity and a willingness to look beyond the stereotypes of Haiti. For your kind acts, colleagues, students and community, I thank you.
