Haiti and Hackley

Hackley alumni, students, parents, and faculty are crossing paths as they try to help Haiti’s recovery, including Nick Cannell ’98, Roger Garrison ’62, Ken Bernhard ’62, and Hackley English Teacher and Fifth Grade Dean, Cyndy Jean. Last summer, they traveled to Haiti, and this month Nick, Roger, and Cyndy hosted a fundraiser celebration of Haitian culture and music in NYC.

Last June, Nick Cannell ’98 departed for Haiti in connection with Konbit Mizik, a not-for-profit recording studio and music education/vocational training program he founded following the Haiti earthquake. Nick was joined by Kieran Minor (grandson of the late Jim Squiers ’45), and they traveled to Sous Matelas, Haiti with Konbit Mizik artist, Amos Dolce, to meet with Hackley English teachers Roger Garrison ’62 and Cyndy Jean, as well as Hackley alumnus, Ken Bernhard ’62 and his nephew. There, Amos Dolce performed a charity concert for the children of the Tree of Life Orphanage.

Roger has worked tirelessly for the past ten years to open a new site for the orphanage. Haiti is the poorest country in the world, where half of the children are not educated and 1 out of 10 employable Haitians are employed. At this point, Tree of Life houses fifteen children and cares for the social, emotional, academic, and health needs of each child. It also schools 50 additional children from the town.

After the Class of 1962 gathered for its 50th Reunion at Hackley, some members of the class decided to help Roger with his orphanage in Haiti. The Class of 1962 is hoping to leave a memorial legacy by supporting Roger’s efforts in Haiti. The project includes the construction of a school house to service both the orphanage and youngsters from the surrounding community. In a country where there is no free public education, the school will be significant to the children fortunate enough to attend. The Class of 1962 hopes to raise the funds to pay for the construction of the school house and to place a plaque which reads, “Hackley Class of 1962, School Annex.” Their endeavors are partly based on a story which goes as follows:

A man comes upon a beach which is littered with thousands of stranded star fish as the tide is going out. A young man is picking up as many as he can and throwing them back into the ocean before they die of dehydration. The man says to the boy, “Why bother, time is running out and you can’t possibly make a difference.” The boy replies as he throws one back into the water, “I made a difference for that one.”

On September 7th, Roger ’62, Nick ’98, and Cyndy joined forces at the Haiti Je T’Aime event at Ogilvy & Mather in NYC, where filmmaker Michele Mitchell was honored for her film, “Haiti: Where Did the Money Go?” Haitian singers, including Wanito performed and were joined by Erick Storckman and Patrick Cannell ’07. Other Hackley folks in attendance included Haleh Tavakol ’84, Josh Marks ’92, Emily DeMarchena ’92, Amanda Esteves-Kraus, Rachel Mwakitawa, parents Edwidge & Jean Thomas, Lynn Roer, and Karen & Steve Shapiro. Hackley freshmen Roya & Lila Wolfe, and Lynn’s daughters, Hackley Middle Schoolers Alex & Talia were also in attendance, lending a hand.

Click to read a story on Ken Bernhard '62 from the Minuteman News Center.

(Read more Hackley Alumni News stories here.)
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