Fundraising

Read about the fundraisers to support the relief effort in Haiti.

Virtual Evening with Authors, Edwidge Danticat and Chantalle F. Verna

Sister Cities Essex Haiti in partnership with RJ Julia Booksellers is honored to present an evening of intimate conversation about the transformative power of storytelling with authors, Edwidge Danticat and Chantalle F. Verna.

The authors will discuss their life journeys and their commitment to ensuring more equitable access to the reading, crafting and telling of stories in and about Haiti in a virtual format.

This event is free to attend, but registration is required. Find out more and register here: http://bit.ly/EssexHaitiEvent

EDWIDGE DANTICAT is the author of numerous books, including Everything Inside: Stories (Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Story Prize and the 2020 Vilcek Prize in Literature), The Art of Death, a National Book Critics Circle finalist; Claire of the Sea Light, a New York TimesNotable Book; Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; The Dew Breaker, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Story Prize; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah’s Book Club selection; and Krik? Krak!, also a National Book Award finalist. A 2018 Neustadt International Prize for Literature winner and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” grant, she has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and elsewhere.

Cross-Cultural Presentation

On April 22, 2018, two presentations were made about visits relating to robotics at the library and education in Deschapelles.

Robotics: Valley Regional High School students, Rocket Otte, Patrick Myslik and Sam Paulson, traveled to Deschapelles in August 2017 with their parents. They led a week-long workshop with the newly formed Club Robotic de Deschapelles at the library. Rocket, Patrick and Sam described their experiences and were delighted that the Club Robotic won second place in the country-wide robotics competition in March 2018! They plan to return to Deschapelles to continue their work at the library. Rocket even plans to take a gap year to research the possibility of installing solar power at the library. To learn more about the robotics workshop, click here.

Education: Olivia Henrikson presented a short documentary on education that she and Gabe Vasquez, classmates at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, CA, created for their senior project when they traveled to Haiti in 2017. To view the documentary, please click here.

Learn more about Haiti!!

Want to know more about Haiti? The Essex Library now has a “Haiti Shelf” just opposite the circulation desk. There are fiction and non-fiction books about the history, culture, and people of Haiti. Come check it out! The Essex Library is located at 33 West Avenue in Essex, Connecticut. For hours and more information about the Essex Library, please click here.

Soup Jumeau

Soup Jumeau, or pumpkin soup, is a traditional soup in Haiti, especially on New Year’s day. Many variations exist. The basic recipe follows:

Cut a pound of beef into small pieces into a pot of cold water and let it simmer until the meat is tender. Add water and ½ pound of vegetables cut in small pieces: carrots, celery, cabbage, plus ½ pound of pumpkin. Spice it with salt, pepper, bouquet garni, one bouillion cube and continue cooking until the vegetables are soft. Puree the pumpkin and vegetables, return to the soup. You can adapt many variations, without beef, more pumpkin, etc. You can also add cooked vermicelli or macaroni.

Hedy’s adaptation:

Roast 1 med. pumpkin with 6 large sweet potatoes at 400 for approx. 40 minutes. Cool then peel and set aside. Finely chop 2 large white onions. Add: 6 stalks of celery, 1/2 cup ginger, 1/3 cup garlic, 4 large carrots shredded, 4 TBS butter, 2 Qts. heavy cream (light cream is Ok if you prefer a lighter soup) and 2 Qt Chicken OR Vegetable stock.Brown onions in butter. Add garlic till translucent then in order celery, carrots, ginger and cream. Simmer for about 15 minutes to reduce the cream. Mash potatoes and pumpkin. Add to Bisque until it reaches the desired thickness. YUM!!!! Keep warm and the soup will continue to thicken. Enjoy! Hedy

Have a Heart for Haiti Fundraiser

Connecticut River Museum painted by Elinord Dubreille, an artist in Deschapelles

Sister Cities Essex Haiti held its first fundraiser, Have a Heart for Haiti, on Friday, October 22, 2010, on the grounds of the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, Connecticut. Over 250 people came to support Hospital Albert Schweitzer and the first Sister Cities Essex Haiti project: the establishment of a library in Deschapelles, Haiti where the Hospital is located.

Guests had the opportunity to enjoy delicious Haitian food prepared by Hedy Watrous of the Whistle Stop Café, Deep River, Ct. Volunteers from the Valley Regional High School Interact Club (affiliated with the Rotary Clubs of Chester, Deep River and Essex) volunteered to serve the food, as did Girl Scout Troop 62041 from John Winthrop Middle School.

Haitian music was provided by DJ Holly Nicolas, a Haitian who now resides in Middletown. Bob Lamothe, a member of the Sister Cities Essex Haiti Board, also from Haiti who now teaches English at Norwalk Community College as well Haitian Kreyol, provided basic dance lessons for the Merengue, Haiti’s national dance.

Those in attendance were able to purchase Haitian metal art work as well as to make donations toward the purchase of needed items for the library: books in Kreyol published in both Haiti and Florida; tables to be hand crafted by woodworkers who reside in Deschapelles; chairs purchased from local “marchands”; and “rays of light” to illuminate the library.

42 individuals volunteered to make this wonderful evening a demonstration that there are truly “sisters and brothers” here in Essex who care about Hospital Albert Schweitzer and the people of Deschapelles.

Special thanks to our corporate sponsors, Tower Labs, Essex Savings Bank and the Chirico Group for making this evening possible. Thanks to all for making this evening such a success and giving us the ability to send needed funds to Hospital Albert Scheweitzer and to provide us with the resources to establish a library in Deschapelles.