by Ashley A. Williams
News@TheU
01-10-2020
Sara Stjuste, a senior at the University of Miami, wants no one to forget.
She wants no one to forget that Sunday will mark 10 years since a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the heart of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and killed more than 200,000 people.
Stjuste, and co-president Herveline Saintil, lead the Haitian student organization Planet Kreyol. The organization will commemorate the 10-year anniversary with a three-day celebration on the Coral Gables campus that begins Monday and concludes on Wednesday with a moment of reflection and conversation about what is happening in Haiti today.
“This year’s theme and hashtag is ‘We Stand with Haiti,’” Stjuste, a political science major, said. “My mom is from Port-au-Prince and my dad is from Léogâne. For 10 years, I have watched them give back to their families financially to get them on their feet. I have witnessed them travel back and forth helping their families financially to rebuild, so the connection is personal to me.”
On Monday, Planet Kreyol will celebrate the country and show their support by wearing Haitian apparel.
On Tuesday, the student organization will place 230 Haitian flags behind the U Statue on the Foote Green to represent the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the quake.
“Since the earthquake took place on a Tuesday, we wanted to host a memorial on this day to honor those lives,” Stjuste said.
On Wednesday at the Shalala Student Center Ballroom, a ceremony titled, “10 Years of Growth” is set to celebrate the growth Haiti has been able to achieve since the 2010 earthquake.
Louis Herns Marcelin, a Haitian native and associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Anthropology who was in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck, will talk about his recollections of the event and speak about the progress Haiti has made socioeconomically, politically, and beyond since then.
“There will be food, performances, and the nonprofit organization, SantéNou, which is dedicated to improving the standard of healthcare in Haiti, will be in attendance with a call to action,” Stjuste said.
