University of California Haiti Initiative

Vital Stats

Yoori C

Santa Barbara, CA

  • people helped 1
  • People Doing It55

The Problem

The UC Haiti Initiative (UCHI) is a group of faculty, students, alumni, and several members of the administration dedicated to mobilizing resources of the UC system for assistance in Haiti reconstruction. We aim to form partnerships with Haitian academic counterparts, civil society organizations, NGOs, and Haitian Government agencies in a defined municipality to enhance capacity building through education and research. We will focus on six core areas: (1) Agriculture, (2) Arts History & Culture, (3) Economics & Law, (4) Education & Psychosocial Assistance, (5) Engineering Architecture & Technology, and (6) Health Care. All projects will emphasize initiative and direction by our Haitian partnering institutions and organizations to establish self-sustaining, long term mechanisms for continued development. We have not directly helped anyone yet, but we are in the process of doing so. We are invested in long-term sustainable development and are planning our plan of action.

Plan of Action

With the support of the University of California Office of the President and the ten Chancellors of the system, a group of students and faculty organized a UC System-wide Summit on April 24, 2010. Faculty, students, administrators coalesced to form a plan for UC's involvement in Haiti reconstruction, under the guidance of Ambassador Leslie Voltaire. Since then, the initiative has grown into a non-profit organization within the UC System poised to develop a set of on-going projects with our partners in Haiti (NGOs, local community organizations, Government of Haiti, State University of Haiti). On August 12-22, an assessment trip was made to various cities in Haiti including Port Au Prince, Mirebalais, Hinche, and Jacmel. We met with various organizations and our organizing to decide our next steps.
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