Symposium looks at Haiti's past, future

As a means of compensating for the lack of attention the media pays to the island nation of Haiti, members of the University community organized the fifth annual Haiti Solidarity Week Symposium last weekend. The day-long event, held Saturday in the Rooftop Lounge of Harnwell College House, was hosted by the Dessalines Haitian Students Association. The symposium was part of a series of events designated nationally as Haiti Solidarity Week. Dessalines President Darnel Degand, an Engineering junior, said the purpose of both the week and the symposium is "getting over the negative stereotypes of Haiti? and raising awareness about the country's politics and culture." The theme of the week was "Haiti Will Rise," and in coordination with that topic, the symposium consisted of panel discussions of Haiti's past, present and future, as well as a film viewing and a performance of music and dancing. The day opened with approximately 25 Penn students, faculty and members of the surrounding community in attendance. Engineering freshman Soji Adewumi said she was most excited about the panel discussion. "There are a lot of people here who are very active in Haitian affairs and I'm very interested to see what they have to say," she said. The discussion kicked off the event and was conducted as a question-and-answer session with four panelists ranging from a Haitian Penn student to a Haitian film director. Degand said that as a Haitian-American, most of his information about Haiti comes from the American media, so it was refreshing to have events and speakers with a different viewpoint. "I haven't been to Haiti since I was four, so it's good to get a perspective from those people who are there often," Degand stated. Jean Pierre Brax, a television writer and director who spoke at a similar event last month at Columbia University, said he was there to provide just that perspective. "I think it's very important for [children of Haitian immigrants] to understand their background -- ethnic and cultural -- in order to fulfill their own life," he said. Brax also emphasized the importance of non-Haitians educating themselves about the country's situation since he claimed the information available from the media is generally misleading. "It's very important to think about the Caribbean as more than beaches, sunshine, clean water and smiling natives," Brax stressed. "Haiti's history is representative of almost all Third World country situations? so it will be very interesting to see how this little nation will cope with these very complex issues."