New Trier Update - Strength Through Unity
New Trier Haiti Project partners with Little by Little and Friends of Petit Goave to provide earthquake relief.
On April 16th 400 tents and 150 sun/rain shielding tarps will be on their way to Petit Goave and Leogane. These will go to families living in improvised camps with no tents, only tarps strewn across sticks. With the first rainy season set to begin, the tents will offer not only protection but hope - hope that there is a future for Haiti , a future for them.
New Trier Partners with Architecture for Humanity - Chicago
New Trier will be working with Architechture for Humanity - Chicago to design the plans to rebuild St. Joseph School in Petit Goave. They will be an enormous help in making sure we best meet the needs of the students of St. Joseph School. More information will posted in the near future about this partnership.
On the ground update from Petit Goave - February 23rd, 2010
CHF International posted an update on their website describing the tent cities and conditions in Petit Goave.
On the ground update from Petit Goave - February 19th, 2010
An organization called CHF International has been doing great work in Petit Goave in the weeks since the earthquake. They have recently posted details of the devastation felt in the town on their website.
The statistics below are taken directly from their webpage.
To date CHF has 586 people working in Petit Goave—240 of them are women. Over 1,300 cubic meters of rubble have been removed to date.
Petit Goave was hard hit in the earthquake. The following statistics give an overall sense of the destruction in the area:
- 1,297 dead
- 5,604 injured
- 7,844 homes destroyed
- 31,961 homes damaged
- 59 schools destroyed
- 38 schools damaged
- 98,989 people in shelters
- 4,800 internally displaced persons arrived from outside of the area
February 22, 2010
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The New Trier Haiti Project has been officially launched! Last Wednesday and Thursday, during the adviser period, all our freshmen and staff were invited to the Cornog Auditorium to formally begin our work with Petit Goave. The audience had the opportunity to watch two moving videos that personalized the need behind this project. Six Haitian staff members were interviewed, and their moving stories are available on-line linked to the Petit-Goave Earthquake Relief Project on the New Trier homepage.
The Haiti Project will be moving into the classroom as our students learn about Haitian history, culture and art. Our students are learning service through partnering with people who have much to teach us about resilience, community strength and unity, and joy. At the same time, we will be raising funds to rebuild St. Joseph School that was destroyed in the earthquake on January 12. Our goal is also to construct a new school in rural Petit Goave, Haiti.
As you all know, Petit Goave was hard hit in the earthquake. The following statistics give an overall sense of the destruction in the area:
- 1,297 dead
- 5,604 injured
- 7,844 homes destroyed
- 59 schools destroyed
- ,989 people in shelters
- 4,800 internally displaced persons arrived from outside of the area.
Please partner with us to reach our fundraising goal of $100,000 to rebuild. So far we have raised $40,000. Donate on-line at: http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/haitiproject.aspx.
Thank you for helping us live New Trier’s motto, “To Commit Minds to Inquiry, Hearts to Compassion, and Lives to the Service of Humanity.”
Jan Borja Paul Waechtler
Northfield Campus Principal Northfield Campus Assistant Principal
January 22, 2010
Dear New Trier faculty, staff, and families,
The tragedy and devastation in Haiti continues, and the New Trier community has graciously overwhelmed us with their pledges and donations for the village of Petit-Goave. Since the original e-mail sent last Friday, over $13,000 has been donated to rebuild this village of 50,000 people. In addition, other schools have offered to partner with us, neighborhoods have united to raise funds, and individual families have expressed their support. We have never been prouder of our community as we live out our motto “…hearts to compassion, and lives to the service of humanity.” Our Student Activities Coordinators on both the Winnetka and Northfield campuses are managing the different clubs and adviser rooms that want to raise funds for the relief effort. Some of these fundraising efforts include partnerships between New Trier and a wide range of schools and organizations in the community. For example, Evanston and New Trier are co-sponsoring “Hoops for Haiti” to raise money at the January 29th basketball game at Northwestern. In addition, the New Trier Performing Arts Directors are planning to donate money from the ticket sales of The Freshman Play, “Page to Stage” on February 4. The outreach has been incredible! Our Haitian friends, who have lost family members, loved ones, and homes, feel and appreciate our support and encouragement.
Currently, no aid has reached Petit-Goave since the earthquake. Residents are without food, water, and medical assistance. Much of the city lies in ruins, including St. Joseph School. There’s an urgent short term need for funds to purchase food, water, and medical supplies. In the long term, our goal is to help rebuild the school and surrounding community. Please continue to check the link on the New Trier Haiti home page for more information including pictures and video from Petit-Goave. We will keep the information as current as possible.
As a reminder, New Trier’s Haiti Project is partnering with locally-based non-profit Little by Little, a 501 (c) 3 organization. All donations are tax-deductible and 100% of funds will be used to respond to relief efforts in Petit-Goave. Our goal is $100,000, and we are very confident with the generous hearts in this community that we will achieve this ambitious goal.
With hope for the future,
Tim Dohrer Jan Borja
Winnetka Campus Principal Northfield Campus Principal