Delaware musicians rock out to remember devastation in Haiti

It’s been almost 3 years since a devastating earthquake destroyed much of Haiti.  While the destruction has faded from the headlines a group of Delaware musicians want to make it their mission to continue to bring aid to that country.

Music and positive vibes filled the air in Arden Sunday evening, as the second Concert For Haiti Delaware was held at the Arden Gild Hall. The first concert, held just a few weeks after that devastating 7.0 earthquake rocked the island nation in January of 2010, was a fundraiser for Delaware medical relief teams that traveled there immediately following the quake. This time around, all proceeds of the event went to the Haiti Family Initiative. That organization grew out of the work of those initial medical relief teams, and has been working with the community of Jacmel, Haiti. For five weeks every summer they run a children’s camp, a walk-in medical clinic, as well as wellness programs for women.

Ed Dwornik, organizer of both concerts, volunteered this past summer running weeks four and five of the children’s camp. “We had about twenty American volunteers each week, along with 20 paid Haitians, so it’s really a good collaborative effort between the Haitians that we work with and the people that volunteer to go down, generally on their own dime” Dwornik said. “It’s an all-voluntary organization…everything we raise here will go straight to HFI, and all that will end up down in Haiti, so it’s really great.”

Concertgoers enjoyed over five hours of local music, which included sets by The Cameltones, Dream Killers, and Mallory Square. Dwornik says area musicians love to step up and there was no shortage of willing participants for this endeavor. “Something like this is really special, and the guys were very interested in playing and anxious to do it. We could’ve done three nights of this really, with the people that were interested”

Dwornik says meetings will be held over the winter to coordinate next summer’s trip to Haiti, and encourages anyone interested to get involved. “A lot of the people the work with HFI are anxious to go down again, a lot of people just take away that it was a really really great experience. It’s a very positive program.”

The website for HFI is www.haitifamilyinitiative.org