RALEIGH -- The Haiti Connection's 10th annual conference on issues facing the island nation will be held today and Saturday at First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh.
The Haiti Connection has long provided support and information to those working on cultural, educational, medical and spiritual projects in Haiti. The need for aid has increased dramatically since the Jan. 12 earthquake.
This year's conference is titled "Foundations for the Future: Building Coalitions for the Children of Haiti."
The event will include lectures and discussions by scholars, businesspeople and volunteers who have worked in Haiti to improve the quality of life for its people. Conference topics will include schools, orphanages, hospitals, building criteria and clean-water projects.
Kathy Johnson, a clinical instructor at the School of Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill, will talk about writing proposals for grants to fund work in Haiti. Johnson has helped her church, Western Boulevard Presbyterian in Raleigh, get several grants to help run its orphanage in Haiti. The facility has agreed to take on 10 children who lost their parents in the earthquake, Johnson said.
Attendance is $25 each day, $10 for students, including lunch. To register, call the Haiti Connection at 834-8911, sende-mail to Bonnie Elam at director@thehaiticonnection.org or go to the group's Web site, http:// thehaiticonnection.org.
The conference will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Saturday.
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