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Unisa joins the international community in reaching out to the quake-struck Haiti by contributing to the Red Cross Humanitarian Emergency Appeal. The university’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Barney Pityana, has urged Unisa staff and students to contribute generously to help the Haitians.
"Reports suggest that Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, is largely in ruins, some 200 000 residents have died and many are still buried beneath the concrete rubble of the flattened city. For many there is no means of livelihood. The plight of the people of Haiti appeals to those of us with a heart and a conscience. I therefore appeal to all of us in the university to contribute to this course of aiding the people of Haiti," he said.
Unisa's management recently approved the issuing of an appeal to all staff and students following Prof Pityana’s meeting with the SA Red Cross Society regarding humanitarian campaigns to which Unisa could contribute.
Prof Pityana said the pledges will run for a period of three to six months and the university’s Finance Department is tasked with collecting the contributions.
"Our Finance Department will make available pledge forms for staff and students to make financial contributions that will feed into the Red Cross Appeal. After pledges are signed and the payroll authorised, the university will make out a cheque to the Red Cross," he explained. Click here for Prof Pityana's memorandum to the university community and click here for the pledge form.
The Red Cross has already announced a R30 million emergency appeal for Haiti. With minimal economic resources, Haitians largely depend on remittances from friends and family who live abroad, and the economy is mostly supported by international development aid.
Unisa has an abiding link with Haiti through the country’s former presidential couple, Dr Jean-Bertrand and Mildred Aristide, both honorary research fellows at the university’s College of Human Sciences and at the Centre for African Renaissance Studies respectively. Dr Aristide was deposed as President of Haiti in 2004. He and his family live in South Africa, courtesy of the South African government.
Meanwhile, Unisa's Centre for Africa Renaissance Studies will soon host a high-level seminar around the Haitian tragedy. The event is expected to have government, private sector and public participation.
*Press release issued by Unisa on 21 January 2010. | 
