HVRHS student project raises awareness of ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti

HVRHS student project raises awareness of ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti

Daniela Brennan, left, and Abby White organized the informational event and fundraiser to support Haiti. The HVRHS seniors held the event at the school.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The work of two local high school students has drawn attention to humanitarian needs in Haiti.

As part of a human rights project, Housatonic Valley Regional High School seniors Daniela Brennan and Abby White hosted an informational session to highlight the efforts of groups and individuals assisting people of the island nation.

Brennan said she had been aware of the crisis in Haiti for some time, which is characterized by political instability and escalating gang violence. When assigned a human rights project, she saw an opportunity to shine light on the issues.

In their research, Brennan and White contacted agencies with experience working on the ground and coordinated an event to amplify those first-hand accounts.

Louise Lindenmeyr of the Hispanola Health Partners, based in Salisbury, and Lila Meade of The Haiti Project, based in Poughkeepsie, New York, presented to a group at HVRHS June 10 about steps taken to address the needs of the Haitian people.

Their work includes supporting initiatives in health care, including mobile clinics and maternity services, education, access to food and water, microfinancing and the arts.

Both speakers emphasized the importance of elevating women as the “backbone of society,” as Meade put it.

“They are the ones who hold everything together,” said Meade as she discussed an adult education program to teach writing and math. “There are now 30 women who are now part of this program.”

After the presentations, guests moved into the library where Haitian artwork and rice and beans were for sale. Proceeds benefited the people of Haiti.

Latest News

Voters approve wakesurfing ban

The July 31 referendum in Kent, Warren and Washington banned wakesurfing on Lake Waramaug.

Photo by Alec Linden

The sport of wakesurfing is now banned on lake Waramaug as the result of a decisive tri-town vote held on Thursday, July 31.

Voters in Kent, Warren and Washington, the three towns that border Lake Waramaug, approved the ordinance with 1452 residents ultimately voting in favor of banning the sport against 421 opposed to it.

Keep ReadingShow less
2025 Jubilee Luncheon
   We look forward to seeing you!

Ruth Franklin discusses ‘The Many Lives of Anne Frank’ at Beth David

Ruth Franklin and Ileene Smith in conversation at Congregation Beth David in Amenia.

Natalia Zukerman

Congregation Beth David in Amenia hosted a conversation on the enduring legacy of Anne Frank, one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures. Ruth Franklin, award-winning biographer and critic, shared insights from her highly acclaimed book “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” with thought-provoking questions from Ileene Smith, Editorial Director of the Jewish Lives series. This event, held on July 23 — the date Anne Frank would have turned 96 — invited the large audience to reconsider Anne Frank not just as the young writer of a world-famous diary, but as a cultural symbol shaped by decades of representation and misrepresentation.

Franklin and Smith dove right in; Franklin reading a passage from the book that exemplified her approach to Anne’s life. She described her work as both a biography of Anne Frank and a cultural history of the diary itself, a document that has resonated across the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Prokofiev, piano and perfection: Yuja Wang at Tanglewood

Yuja Wang performs with the TMCO and Andris Nelsons.

Hilary Scott

Sunday, July 20 was sunny and warm. Nic Mayorga, son of American concert pianist, the late Lincoln Mayorga, joined me at Tanglewood to hear Yuja Wang play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16. I first saw Wang on July 8, 2022, when she filled in for Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the opening night of Tanglewood’s summer season. She virtually blew the shed down with her powerful and dynamic playing of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Nic was my guest last season on July 13, when Wang wowed us with her delicate interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. We made plans on the spot to return for her next date in Lenox.

Keep ReadingShow less