Vassar Haiti Project

Last semester, I studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. The experience allowed personal growth in so many areas. I was able to take classes in human health and neuroscience that were both specific to my interests and on topics that are not offered at Vassar. For the four months I was in Denmark, I lived with a host mom. This was a unique experience that allowed me to immerse myself in the culture and live a more typical daily life of a Dane. On weekends and breaks, I had the opportunity to travel to other countries throughout Europe and explore a variety of cities.

While abroad was a great experience and I was able to more or less relax for a semester, I am so happy to be back to Vassar. I missed this campus for a variety of reasons, but the top two were my friends and the organizations and activities on campus that I take part in, especially VHP. Anyone in VHP will tell you our organization has a strong sense of community, which promotes old friendships and encourages new ones. This semester is exciting for me as my first semester on EB and I look forward to playing a stronger role in VHP through this experience and hope to bond more with members of VHP.

-Phebe Warren ’19, Health Manager

Last night’s opening was a success and today’s sale is wonderful! Thanks to everyone for your support. Here are some photos from set-up yesterday. Stay tuned for more!

On January 27th, we had our annual VHP Spring leadership retreat. The retreat was an excellent opportunity to come together again after the break apart and continue to strengthen our bond as a group, improve our way of operating, and prepare for the year ahead.

During the retreat, we were fortunate enough to be joined by VHP Alum Sahara Pradhan ’15 who led two workshops to help us identify and create solutions for aspects of VHP that could be improved. The workshops were a moment where we as a group could step back and examine the aspects of our operations that could be changed to allow for more cohesive and effective communication and teamwork. We also had the opportunity to continue a discussion on how the organization is perceived externally and how we speak about the project – a conversation that will definitely be continued in the future.

Coming out of the retreat I for one feel more excited than ever to not only continue our work for this semester but to continue to develop and improve how we operate within VHP to make achieving our goals even more possible.

-Eilif Rønning ’20, Student Development

Tomorrow we will be having our Winter Leadership Retreat, where our Executive Board will meet to debrief fall semester and plan for winter/spring semester. We will also have some special guest appearances tomorrow!

Photo by Andrew Meade

We had a VHP bonding event in early December. We aim to have one non-work related bonding event a month so that we can all recharge together, and this time around we decided a movie night with snacks would be the perfect break from final assignments stress. We were correct! Our events committee provided an assortment of goodies to snack on and boba tea to drink, while we watched Princess Diaries II. We settled in and spent a couple of hours watching Mia Thermopolis find her way to the throne of Genovia. It was a calming end to a very busy VHP semester ranging from weekly committee meetings to September Sale madness. As I look forward to all the great things we will accomplish in the coming semester, like the DC sale in February and Art & Soul in March, I’m also excited for all the future bonding events I will get to attend with my fellow VHPers.

– Kidus Girma ’18, Co-President

We at the Vassar Haiti Project were shocked and disappointed to hear President Trump’s recent words disparaging the Haitian people. We take this moment to recognize the value of every human being in Haiti and in every other part of the world. Our mission seeks to raise awareness of Haitian culture and society in the US and everywhere. We proudly stand with Haiti, now and always.

Photo by Serena Lee ’18

On Wednesday, November 8^th, VHP held a General Body meeting during which each committee presented a “microtimeline”: what we have been up to this semester, and what is coming up for the rest of the semester or year. Each presenter was given 1-2 minutes to speak. After the microtimeline portion, we had an envelope stuffing party to prepare the end-of-year newsletters for the post.

This event was particularly exciting for me, because as Social Media Director I do not have the opportunity to see each committee’s work on a weekly basis. It was inspiring to watch as new GB members took the floor and spoke with confidence and pride about their committees. This GB meeting embodied VHP’s core values: it was a room filled with love, joy, and support. I am fortunate to be part of an organization of so many future leaders.

Most importantly, the apple cider provided was delicious. It was the perfect refreshment for the midpoint of a stressful academic week.

-written by Sophia Massie ’20, Social Media Director

On November 4th, the Vassar Haiti Project joined many other Vassar organizations at the Night Market (an annual event hosted by the Asian Students Alliance where each organization sets up a table selling various kinds of food). Participating in the Night Market is always a great opportunity not only to bond as VHP members, but also to get to know other organizations and get involved in the greater Vassar community.

Before the event, VHP members gathered to prepare the food that was going to be sold. We chopped piles of cabbage, cooked vermicelli, mixed dipping sauces, pan-fried tofu, filled and boiled dumplings, sautéed shrimp, and steamed buns—all in four and a half hours! All of that cooking was then brought down to the main event where even more wonderful VHP volunteers sold our homemade dumplings, hand rolled summer rolls, and freshly steamed buns (the last of which sold out in just twenty minutes!)

Although the night market was definitely a success in terms of profit, more importantly we came together as an organization and made a very large amount of work (you should have seen all the cabbage we chopped!) go by quickly and easily. In fact, every time VHP puts on an event—whether it’s a large, off-campus art sale or single-table booth at a night market—I’m always blown away to see how many VHPers are happy to step up and make it happen!

-Written by Lindsey Coffee-Johnson, Co-VP of Events