In my opinion, Poughkeepsie, NY, or to be more specific, Arlington, Poughkeepsie, NY is definitely not the liveliest of places during the summer, but one way or the other, summer residents usually find a way to have fun. A lot of times, that involves taking breaks from summer jobs or research to travel and going to coordinated events and activities.
I’ve had two getaways from my job on campus this summer. The first was on the first weekend of July when the Office of International Services (OIS) organised a trip to Rockaway Beach in Queens, NY and the second happened from July 19th – July 23rd. I was at an art sale co-hosted by the Vassar Haiti Project (VHP) and Christ Episcopal Church in Sag Harbour, NY.
I have been a part of the Vassar Haiti Project since my first year at Vassar and from my perspective as an international student, there have been various events and activities, just like the sale at Sag Harbor, that have enriched my experience at Vassar during the school year and even this summer. Members of the project participate in various on-campus and off-campus activities such as Haitian paintings and handcraft sales, presentations at schools and organizations, and meetings. The great thing about working with the organization is that a lot of the activities, especially those held on campus, are student led. What this does is allows different inputs and perspectives to be considered creating the space for an art sale, running a meeting and engaging in conversations. Much of my joy in working with VHP has come from my constant exposure to differences in how people do their work, from different stories that stem from having conversations and from sharing a space with different individuals while collectively enjoying our work.
The sale at Sag Harbor is one of the many events that VHP has hosted this year and it was definitely worth going to. On June 19th, I, Lila Meade (the Executive Director of the Project), Catherine Wu ’21 (a fellow international student who is from Taiwan) and Maddie McCall (a Poughkeepsie resident who interned for the Project during the Spring ’18 semester) drove for over 3 hours to Christ Episcopal Church at Sag Harbor where we were welcomed by some members of the church and the community who had helped us out in the past 5 iterations of the sale the location. These community members had already started setting up the space so right away, we joined in the set up, then had lunch together, did more set up and at the end of the first part of set up, we all went out to have dinner. It was fun to meet these new people who have been diligently and humbly partnering with the project for over 10 years.
Being able to learn from people via conversations has been fundamental to my positive experiences as an international student here in the States and at art sales just like this one, there are lots of opportunities to engage in these conversations. What happens in the space this art sales creates is that people come in with their experiences and stories and purchase items at the sales and also converse with the students. With the number of students and alumni (international and U.S citizens), everyone comes in willing to learn and be a part about the work we do as members of the project and given that how we do our work and function is tied to who we are and how we have learnt things from the places we are from, lots of beautiful conversations happen. So at dinner, at the sale, and at breakfast with our host at Sag Harbor, I was able to share about where I’m from and who I am in different ways. I talked about the education system in Nigeria and the schools I had attended, possible areas where one could go hiking, what the city I’m from is like, different food items and how different dishes are made, common types of housing systems in the city I live in and at various points how I could translate what I am learning by doing work with VHP into positive impact in not just Haiti but my home country**.** The beauty of these conversations is the exposure to a different person, environment and story and the realization of how much sights, sounds and knowledge that you as an individual has been able to take in about a place or places you grew up in.
Having been to Haiti on the students trip in 2017, I was also able to talk about my experience there and draw parallels to Nigeria and also listen to similar/different stories and experiences. Part of VHP’s mission is Global Citizenship and for me and other international students, we are taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to use in forms of service, leadership and these art sales to learn about different communities, learn how to communicate ideas, people and places to very different individuals with different stories. Another major part of working with the project is the emphasis on Partnership. As a way to do our work in Haiti and even have sales and presentations in the states, there must be interactions with people to sustain the partnerships we establish. These interactions are always about letting your voices and experiences be heard and seen and then reciprocating a listening ear to the other individual(s). It’s always a beautiful exchange.
The other fun part of the trip was getting to catch up with friends and alumni who came in from the city and from Boston, discovering new ice-cream shops as we walked through town, visiting a library, going down to the harbor to see ships, getting lost while driving home to our host’s house at East Hampton from Sag Harbor and then going to an almost empty beach.
Summer can be different things for internationals since a lot of people do different things such as internships, research, studying, traveling and other activities and I think it comes down to seeking an experience of some sorts which is enriching, challenging, hopefully relaxing and which can be shared. For me it has been a pleasant mix so far. In between my summer job, art sales, road trips, cool beach days and humid summer nights, a lot is said and a lot is learned.
Written by Daniel Elendu ’19.
Daniel Elendu is a rising senior at Vassar College who is a computer science major and Co-President of the Vassar Haiti Project. Daniel is from Nigeria.
Clairiola Etienne and Kidus Girma are Vassar and Vassar Haiti Project alumna/e. They graduated from Vassar earlier this year- 2018. Kidus is from Ethiopia and Clairiola is from Haiti. Both of them have been living in the States for a couple of years.
Catherine Wu is a rising sophomore at Vassar College who is still deciding her major. Catherine is from Taiwan.
Ayumi Haremaki is a rising junior at Vassar College who is a History major and also a Co-President of the Vassar Haiti Project. Ayumi is from New York City.
