For eighteen years, the Vassar-Haiti Project, started and still directed by Lila Meade and her husband Andrew, assistant dean of international students at Vassar College, has improved the lives of Haitians in the remote mountaintop village of Chermaitre and its surroundings. Vassar sophomore Mary McCarthy, publicity director of the project, and Lila Meade were the guests on RadioRotary for this show. Ms. McCarthy was inspired to work on the project by reading Mountains Beyond Mountains, a biography of Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health. As a result of the project, which raises funds primarily by selling Haitian paintings and crafts, Chermaitre and the surrounding area is served by a 250-student school, a clinic that treats 3,000 patients annually, and clean water, the last from a Rotary Global Grant sponsored by the Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary. Vassar now has a Rotaract Club, which is seeking grant money from Rotary to provide the clinic with electricity. It is inspiring work.

Learn more:
The Vassar Haiti Project: http://www.thehaitiproject.org/
Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary: http://rotary7210.org/arlington/
The Rotary Foundation Global Grants: https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/apply-grants/global-grants
Mountains Beyond Mountains: https://www.tracykidder.com/mountains-beyond-mountains.html
Partners in Health: https://www.pih.org/
Rotaract: https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/rotaract-clubs

CATEGORIES
Education
Health
International Programs
Rotary Club Projects
Rotary Foundation
Water Projects

---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/radiorotary/support