Liberal Arts Voices

Read the perspectives of our current students

Haiti Earthquake – One Year Later

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Photo of Haiti
Originally uploaded by Official U.S. Air Force

Last year on this very day, January 12, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti.  As the earth shook, buildings tumbled and pavements ripped, parents were torn from their kids, wives from husbands, brothers from sisters and neighbors from each other.  However, during these devastating days, your support and good will for Haiti shone in the dark.  Individuals from the department of Economics, the College of the Liberal Arts, the Smeal College of Business and the rest of the Penn State community reached out to my family and me.  Your outpouring of support and prayers profoundly moved us.  Many reached deep in their hearts and wallets and donated money to help my family and I help those in Haiti.  Your kind words, contributions and support were deeply appreciated.  Your donations were instrumental in providing tents, food and transportation to the victims of the earthquake.

As the year comes to a close, I would like to thank you again for your generosity and ask that you continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

All my best,

Marie Villefranche

Supporting Marie, her Family and Survivors in Haiti

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We all have watched the continued devastating news about the disaster in Haiti. As we mentioned in a recent post, the disaster has hit close to home for one of our co-workers. LAUS adviser Marie Villefranche is from Haiti and has several family members in Port-au-Prince.

She has not heard from all of her family members, but has reports from some who have survived; they are living in the street right now and have not had regular access to food or water. Marie is working on plans to move her family members out of Port-au-Prince and place them with relatives in the countryside who were not affected by the earthquake. The logistics of this are costly and difficult.

To find out how you can help, please contact Gay Catherman at glw1@psu.edu or Michele Moslak at mwm5@psu.edu. We are trying to pool our resources in a coordinated effort to help Marie and her family on January 22nd, so please contact Gay or Michele if you are interested in participating.

Haiti Earthquake

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As many of you are aware Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake this past week. One of our own advisers, Marie Villefranche, a native of Haiti, has extended family who live in the Port-au-Prince region.

To date, they have not been in communication with Marie and her family in the States. The College of the Liberal Arts Office of Undergraduate Studies would like to extend our thoughts and best wishes for Marie and her family.

For those who would like to support the recovery and the relief effort, please visit the following organizations: Yele Haiti, the Red Cross, World Vision, Oxfam, or Partners in Health.

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