Bridgewater State College invests in Haiti's recovery

By Bobby Calobrisi
Neite Decimus heard what sounded like the rumbling of an oncoming train and realized something was wrong. It was the sound of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 250,000 in Haiti on Jan.12.
Decimus, a graduate student at Bridgewater State College, saw death scattered on the streets and witnessed six to seven people being toppled by a house.
He survived and is telling people that educated Haitians are needed to help the country rebuild.
Decimus is one of thousands of college students raising money and awareness to help earthquake victims in Haiti.
Jonathon White, assistant professor of sociology, said in an email that students and faculty alike are seeking to extend direct efforts to benefit Haiti.
“There is a strong contingent of students (along with a couple of staff members) organizing to take a trip to Haiti to put their skills to work to helping in any way they can,” he wrote. “Others are continuing to organize fundraisers and education/awareness events. Others, like myself, are deeply involved in organizations outside of the campus who will continue to do work in Haiti for decades to come.”
Even without a first-hand account of what happened, students at Bridgewater State College students and faculty raised more than $10,000 on Feb. 2.
At Bridgewater State College, the event Hope.Help.Haiti, held on Feb. 2, raised $10,000 from students and faculty alike for the American Red Cross and Free the Children along with Partners in Health.
Decimus spoke at the fundraiser about how Haitians earning scholarships and college degrees would help rebuild Haiti in the future, according to the “Help for Haiti” BSC NewsLog.
In a separate interview, he stressed how Haitians need education to help them recover for themselves.
“If you want to offer any help to Haiti, see exactly what Haiti needs and train us, don’t just give us food,” he said. “Train people in engineering and farming; train and prepare people for when things like [this earthquake] happen.”
Decimus said Haitians need education, but that education must go towards keeping Haiti its own country.
“For [nations] to help us is not to change us. To help us is to help us access knowledge, access technology,” he said. “We are so far behind. We need to take it step-by-step to move forward.”
Decimus said after the earthquake, people took the opportunity to overcharge for resources. He said Haitians cannot extort themselves if they are to do better by their culture.
“We need to learn to live like other Haitians and defend each other,” he said. “We need to be educated as a nation and learn how to respect people, not just those with money or education but with lack of education. We need to know who we are as a people.”
Jonathon White, assistant professor of sociology, estimated over 1,000 people over the course of the event, drawing the feeling, “We are all Haitian.”