More than three weeks have passed since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Everyone has read about it or seen news stories on TV. It’s a tragedy and each day, as more journalists make the trip down to Haiti, the news stories seem to become more heart-wrenching and out of place in the mindset of most Americans.

There have been reports on medical teams having to use saws and axes for amputations because of the lack of medical equipment; reports on countless children that have no family left and no school to attend; there have been reports on the lack of food and water for most of the population. The Caribbean heat, so tantalizing and relaxing to the Ohio native, is a horrid reality of thirst and dehydration to the Haitian citizen. Even more depressing and unreal is the desperate reality of mass graves and of being unable to have a proper goodbye to one’s loved ones.

As Americans and as Kent State students, these stories and images seem so out of reach. Watching the news or reading the newspapers, the question on most minds is “What can I do?” There are countless organizations on campus and many students running them that have begun collecting money for the recovery. Many have made the infamous 90999 text that has collected millions for the recovery and there are many families across this nation that have adopted orphaned Haitians.

Although all these actions deserve the utmost respect, there still seems to be something missing in the dialogue in this country. There still seems to be a dialogue missing on this campus, whether in the classrooms or in the confines of the Hub.

Foremost, as students and citizens, we need open up a dialogue about the history of Haiti – America’s legacy of imperialism and the greed of multi-national corporations. For example, in the aftermath of Haiti’s independence, America joined Europe on an embargo of the new nation that, by 1900, Haiti was devoting 80 percent of its national budget to “foreign” debt. By 1915, under Woodrow Wilson, America invaded Haiti and dominated its internal and economic affairs for the next 19 years, allowing economic advantages for American companies.

We need to open up a dialogue about the politics of economic aid and what it means to help a country without crossing the line of modern imperialism. As Mr. Binyavanga Wainaina, a writer and activist in Kenya who has written extensively on aid to Africa, said in a recent interview that, “This power, this power to help, is just about as dangerous as hard power, because very often it arrives with a kind of zeal that is assuming ‘I will do it. I will solve it for you. I will fix it for you,’ and it rides roughshod over your own best efforts.”

We need to open up a dialogue about culture – how culture is formed and how culture is not static but is in constant evolution. A great example of this is the Creole culture of Haiti.

At Duke University, this dialogue has already began. Deborah C. Jenson, a professor of Romance studies, developed a course entitled, “Haitian Creole for the Haitian Recovery.” This course teaches undergraduates and health care professionals the history, culture and language of Haiti to strengthen their efforts as aid workers and volunteers. This course is just the beginning of the dialogue, though.

Kent State has an opportunity to start and expand this dialogue on campus. Many professors have brought up the issues surrounding Haiti in their selective courses, but Kent State needs to start an interdepartmental initiative that brings all departments together and all undergraduate and graduate students of different educational backgrounds to advance this conversation.

Imagine a course in which a nursing student and a business student sat down together in a classroom in which many different professors came together to teach one topic — Haiti. This would be the fruition of education and will connect the student and the professor with the true crisis of Haiti.

Kent State’s effort in the aftermath of Katrina changed students’ lives, professors’ lives and the lives of the citizens of Biloxi. Why not have a class that enables students to learn the dynamics of aid, the culture and history of Haiti and send them down to help with the recovery as educated individuals filled with the vivacious passion of youth? Kent State, this is your opportunity.

David Busch is a senior philosophy and

history major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].