A Tide of Generosity

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake, which struck at 4:53 pm on January 12, is estimated to have killed anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 people. The NMH community soon discovered personal connections to the tragedy, such as Holyoke resident and NMH alumnus Wilfredo Perez. Perez, who is studying to be a doctor, worked at a health clinic in the Haitian countryside between May 2008 and June 2009. He was on the phone with a colleague in the Dominican Republic when the earthquake hit.

 

In an email to NMH faculty, Perez, class of 2004, wrote that the village where he had lived and worked was “witnessing a tsunami of people fleeing from Port-au-Prince, starved, injured and desperate for help. My clinic supplies have run dry and the food supply is nearly non-existent.” The clinic didn't have the capacity or resources to treat the influx, said Perez, who asked that the NMH community mobilize “in whatever way possible.” 

 

“I'm praying that people open their eyes to where all of the victims are fleeing to--the countryside,” he wrote. “We are not equipped for the flood of people who are coming here to die. “

 

Christopher Caruso, an NMH senior, also had a personal connection to Haiti, having volunteered at a private school for grades K–4 this fall. The school, run by Canadian Missionaries had contained a clinic and after school programs for teenagers. The earthquake leveled the building. In an internal email appeal, Caruso requested that “everyone take this time to recognize how fortunate we are and in turn understand the misfortune of Haiti.”

 

Caruso then asked students and faculty to bring $1 to the all-school meeting on Monday, where he and members of the NMH Model UN team would collect donations for relief efforts.

 

Students listened to tributes in honor of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and responded to the call to action by filling the plastic donation cups to overflowing. The tide of generosity was so powerful that Director of Outreach Annie Neill had to start accepting handfuls of money because all of her containers were full.

 

Neill quickly tallied the donations and reported that NMHers had raised a grand total of $1055 at the morning meeting alone, with students contributing $708 and adults contributing $347.

 

The collection continued at the dining hall, where students contributed an additional $284 and faculty and staff contributed $207 on Monday. By the end of the week, the donations had reached a total of $2511 with $1420 from students and $1091 from adults.

 

Members of the Model UN will continue collecting donations at Alumni Hall. The donations will then be sent to either the Haitian health clinic where Perez worked or to the nonprofit organization Partners in Health.