I wanted to write this post last week, but you know how it goes. It's the last week of classes, holiday cheer is in the air, and the snow has been falling for about a day now. But, I wanted to touch back on the previous holiday, Thanksgiving, as well as a pretty awesome speaker we had come to campus.
Dr. Paul Farmer, a humanitarian, anthropologist, and physician, as well as a founder of Partners in Health, came to SMC to speak. I wasn't sure what he was going to talk about, but I knew it would be interesting and the crowd would be big. There turned out to be between 700 and 800 students, faculty, and community members at the presentation. He spoke about the current situation in Haiti, as well as what he has seen in the past. There were a few big points I really took away from his time at SMC:
1. Are there really natural disasters, or are the consequences the result of social disasters?
2. Develop engagement and activism early, no matter what your passion or cause
3. From day 8 after the earthquake in Haiti, the country's best hospital was floating in the harbor
4. Aid to Haiti was amazing; over 1/2 of American households donated, and they did not list any needs that they did not receive.
5. "Where are you from?" in Creole translates to "you are a person where?"
I know not all of this seems big to everyone, but those are the things that stayed with me and made me think.
Closer to the Thanksgiving break, my friends and I gathered at Eliza's house near Smuggs for one last family feast before her parents moved out of the house we had grown to love visiting. It was a delicious night filled with every food you could imagine, yummy cider, and fun and games. Here's a photo of us all together:
A few days before we headed home for break, there was another fun activity a friend of mine put on in the 300s field: The Townhouse Turkey Toss. I went to watch, had a great time, and got some video:
And that's all for now, but check back soon!
-Christine
No comments:
Post a Comment