It’s been nine months since the worst earthquake in 200 years hit 25 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince. At a 7.0 on the Richter scale, the earthquake devastated the landscape of the most populous parts of Haiti, and eight days later, aftershocks were still toppling buildings along coastal towns. For groups working in Haiti, the reality of the vast damage inflicted is only made more daunting by the reality of the work needed to repair and rebuild.
In an effort to shed new light on a situation which had been the focus of intense media attention that began dissipating much faster than those one ground could afford, groups at the University of Notre Dame have put together a series of events on campus. Notre Dame has a stake in all this. They’ve been working in Haiti since 1993, conducting mass drug administrations with the goal of eliminating lymphatic filariasis by 2015. With 2015 inching nearer, Notre Dame’s Haiti Program and its partners have pushed past the obstacles left in the earthquakes wake, and will reach 100% coverage of the entire population in the next round of treatments.
This weekend, the focus is advocacy. Lectures, personal stories, demonstrations, and a special event at the Notre Dame-Pitt will focus on different aspects of health and survival in the aftermath of the earthquake. A Tent City exhibit, designed by members of the Haiti Working Group who have recently traveled to Haiti, is being raised on the Irish Green. Over one-third of people in Haiti are still living in the more than 13,000 temporary shelters that clutter the space where homes used to be. Along with the demonstration, the event will also pay tribute to those who have supported relief efforts.
So, if you’re a Notre Dame student, staff or faculty, happen to be in South Bend, or need a reason for a road trip, visit the campus and participate in one or all of the activities planned. Below is a full list of events. Stop by the Irish Green on Friday, October 8 from 4-7 and Saturday, October 9 from 11 – 3 for the Tent City demonstration.
Haiti Program Pitt Game Weekend Events
Thursday, October 7, 2010
What: Serving in a Field Hospital, Response to Haiti’s Earthquake Disaster: An Oral Surgeon’s Perspective
· Dr. Bill Hoffmann, DDS Metropolitan Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, P.A. Minneapolis, MN and Dr. Dan Klauer, DDS South Bend, IN
Where: Room 114 of the Pasquerella Center (ROTC Building)
When: 5:00 pm
Friday, October 8, 2010
What: Tent City – A Student Demonstration – Haiti Working Group
Where: Irish Green (South side if the Debartolo Performing Arts Bldg./South side of campus)
When: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm and Saturday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
What: Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and Product Development Partnerships
Philip E. Coyne, Jr., M.D., M.S.P.H. CAPT, US Public Health Service, Dept. of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics; Assistant Professor of Tropical Public Health, F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine, ND ‘76
Where: 105 Jordan Hall
When: 1:00 pm
What: In gratitude for your support of the Notre Dame Haiti Program and in solidarity with the people of Haiti, the Notre Dame Alumni Association is hosting a reception for volunteers of the program.
Where: Eck Visitors Center
When: 5:00-6:30 pm (Prior to the Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh Pep Rally)
Saturday, October 9, 2010
What: Tent City – A Student Demonstration – Haiti Working Group
Where: Irish Green (South side if the Debartolo Performing Arts Bldg./South side of campus)
When: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
What: President’s Brunch – Recognition of Volunteers – by invitation only
The six month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, marked by renewed media coverage over the past few weeks, underscored how even the most riveting catastrophes eventually fade from our consciousness. I went to Port au Prince two weeks after the quake and again two months later. I witnessed the outpouring of generosity from around the world. With more than a million Haitians in desperate tarp and tent camps the need remains enormous. But now most of the volunteer aid workers are gone. Except during occasions like the six month anniversary, so are most reporters.
The burden of infectious diseases on the poorest people in the world is every bit as crushing as the concrete rubble that buried so many in Port au Prince. But it never commands anywhere near the same attention. And even sustaining what little visibility it gets is an enormous on-going challenge.
Hope everyone enjoyed their long holiday weekend! To welcome you back from a well-deserved break, we have a great list of reads for your daily dose of NTD and global health news. Today we’re reading about the affect of NTDs and disease burden on IQ, the behavior of worms, the economic benefits of eliminating elephantiasis, and 1 million treated through mass drug administration in Haiti.
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The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is a major advocacy and resource mobilization initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute dedicated to raising the awareness, political will, and funding necessary to control and eliminate the most common neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)--a group of disabling, disfiguring, and deadly diseases affecting more than 1.4 billion people worldwide living on less than $1.25 a day.
@gracetandeamara The 7 NTDs we focus on cause 90% of the burden globally-However, we hope our amplification of NTDs helps all NTD sufferers. 16 hours ago
