Haiti Symposium

On the afternoon of January 13, 2010, the island country of Haiti was devastated by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Within two weeks, the Modesto Junior College Civic Engagement Project pulled together a symposium on Haiti to provide students and the public with needed information on the quake and the country. On the night of Jan.29 participants filled the large Sierra Hall room 132 on West Campus, which featured as presenters Professor of Geology Garry Hayes, who provided information on the geology of the earthquake; Professor of History Curtis Martin, who offered a presentation on the history of Haiti; and MJC agriculture students from Haiti, Joanne Joseph, Graciane Mathieu and Carline Paul, who showed a brief slide show on Haiti before the quake.
     Hayes' power point presentation gave those of us with less than average knowledge of how earthquakes work an answer to the question, "Why did this happen"? Many of Haiti's structures dated back hundreds of years, and the new structures were built without the knowledge that earthquakes were coming, which made them vulnerable to large scale quakes like the one that ultimately hit. Without any seismometers set up in Haiti it was virtually impossible to predict such a quake, although, Hayes said, he and his students were able to see the readings of the Haiti quake on the seismometer in the MJC Science Building as it was happening. The readings were as large as those from the 6.5 earthquake that shook Humboldt County just days earlier, even though the Haiti quake was more than 3,000 miles away. Hayes explained that there are two major fault lines running east-west in the Caribbean, one of them right through Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. The Atlantic or North American plate slid beneath the Caribbean plate, causing the violent earthquake.
     Following Hayes was Martin, who gave a condensed presentation on Haiti's history of development and why the pre-existing poverty level led to a higher death toll. Haiti was the first black Republic ever formed. It was a country Europe and the U.S. feared because it was the site of the first slave uprising, and yet a country whose economy and infrastructure has been stagnant for years. Offering statistics comparing it to the U.S., Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, which shares the eastern portion of the same island, Martin showed that Haiti's  infant mortality rates, unemployment rates and illiteracy rates are the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
      The last presentation was the most down to earth and emotional, as it was presented by the three Haitian students, Joanne Joseph, Graciane Mathieu and Carline Paul. They gave the audience a chance to see the Haiti through their eyes. They presented a slideshow with beautiful pictures of Haiti before the earthquake struck. Joseph left during the slideshow, too overcome with emotion to stay, which was understandable given the circumstances, though Paul offered some heartfelt sentiments about the beauty of her country, beyond its poverty, reminding us that perhaps we should take the time to notice the wonders of a place before they disappear.
     Given the rapid changes of the news cycle, Haiti will soon be just another country again, out of our thoughts, as if the disaster never struck. But the people of that country will remember it, as they are rebuilding the lives that were shaken along with their homes. The Symposium urged the MJC community to continue helping long after Haiti disappears from the headlines.