The honorees are Poughkeepsie resident Nancy Belok and Dr. Gueslin Joassainvil, who served as director of the Fiervil Clinic from 2014 to 2022. The clinic, currently undergoing construction of a solar-powered laboratory funded by members of the Medical Advisory Board, serves residents of 45 villages in the mountains of northwest Haiti. 

The Gala, which starts at 5:30 p.m., will feature music performed by the Vassar Student Jazz Club and Haitian American musician Mic L’Ville. Tickets for the event are $75, and the price includes a $50 credit towards the purchase of Haitian art, which will be on display at the Gala. Visit www.thehaitiproject.org to purchase a ticket.

The guest speaker at the event will be Paarul Sinha, a 2017 Vassar graduate who is starting her family medicine residency at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Sinha said she was inspired to pursue a career in medicine after visiting the Fiervil Clinic when she was a member of the Vassar Haiti Project. “VHP developed my work ethic and leadership skills, my passion for medical advocacy, and most importantly instilled in me a sense of purpose,” she said. “After visiting the clinic in Haiti, my vision of becoming a doctor became rooted. Since then, I have always had an answer to the question ‘why’ that we often ask ourselves at the end of long, tiring days in medical school.”

Belok, who co-founded the Medical Advisory Board in 2002, is a graduate of Brandeis University. After receiving her master’s degree from Tufts University, she co-founded a corporate childcare consulting business in Boston and was an instructor in Transcendental Meditation. She has been a resident of Poughkeepsie since 1993 and has served on the boards of the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum, Half Moon Theatre, and the Bardavon 1869 Opera House.

During his tenure as director, Dr. Joassainvil journeyed to the clinic every week from his home in Port au Prince by a combination of bus, motorcycle, and on foot. He said he was grateful for the support the clinic has received from the Vassar Haiti Project and its Medical Advisory Board. “VHP is more than an organization,” he said. “It is a family of people with great hearts.”

The Vassar Haiti Project is an independent student organization working closely with Haiti Project, a 501©3 nonprofit organization. Their work together is an experiential education program that teaches student volunteers the theory and practice of global citizenship. The sale of original art helps to support Haitian artists, and the contributions also benefit five initiatives in the northwest mountains of Haiti: education, reforestation, clean water access, a women’s cooperative, and health care.

About Vassar College

Vassar College, based in Poughkeepsie, New York, is a coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college where perspectives cross, ideas intersect, and passion burns bright. Originally founded to provide women an education equal to that once available only to men, Vassar was the first all-women’s college in the nation to become coeducational when it opened its doors to men in 1969. Vassar fosters an intellectual openness and independence in students, who meet each other as equals, and are encouraged to absorb diverse thought and impassioned dialogue that give them the insight and confidence they will need in a complex world where they will make important contributions. Consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country, Vassar is renowned for pioneering achievements in education, for its long history of curricular innovation, and for the beauty of its campus.

Contact: Larry Hertz, lahertz@vassar.edu, 845-437-7938, 845-518-3098 (Vassar College)

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