SUNY Broome professor presents “Health for Haiti”

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Local students are changing lives, bringing humanitarian assistance to rural Haiti.

The Binghamton Noon Rotary club hosted SUNY Broome Biology Professor Jen Musa, who launched Health for Haiti in 2014.

Musa gave a presentation about the organization, which started as a class at SUNY Broome.

In past years, students would travel to a rural community in Haiti and help identify priorities to address and assist with logistics and funding.

Musa says between the pandemic and the assassination of the Haitian president in 2020, it was no longer safe to bring students there. However, she says they continue to work on projects from afar, with a focus on education, nutrition, and clean drinking water.

Musa says this has transformed the health of the community.

“It’s been one of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever been involved in. It was hard to see the class end, just because of circumstances, but a lot of former students are still involved,” Musa said. “I work with Tioga Hills Elementary School locally, so we’ve still been able to get a lot of community support. It’s been great even with all the challenges of Haiti to be able to continue the work.”

Musa says since the project started, the school they work with has grown from 20 children to 300.

She says they have built classrooms, installed a water filtration system and helped with a community garden to provide school lunches.

Musa says the organization is currently working on installing a modern bathroom.

For more information, visit healthforhaiti.org.

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