Summary: Cindy Fung, a member of the Vassar Rotaract club and co-founders of the Vassar Haiti Project, Lila and Andrew Meade, discuss how promoting Haiti’s varied and unique art forms has improved Haitian lives (Rotaract is a college service club sponsored by Rotary). Andrew Meade, Vassar’s Director of International Services, and his wife Lila, lived in Haiti at different times when young and are familiar with its problems. The Vassar Haiti Project (VHP) works with the Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Club to implement the projects they have developed to solve some of these problems. The VHP has raised funds for a health clinic, a school, and clean water projects in rural mountain areas. VHP plans additional clean water projects in the future. The project’s members emphasize the Haitian people’s strong spirit of optimism in spite of recent devastation and hardships.
