The Story of Asteroid Day Haiti

Why am I personally supporting Asteroid Day?

I am personally supporting Asteroid Day because I want my people (Haitians) to know the truth about asteroids and what to expect from them. We used to have some natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes but an asteroid impact would be incredibly different and global! Many questions have already come from the community about rocks coming from the sky and the only answer they had for most of the time is from religious interpretations. Despite being an OBGYN, I have also been an astronomy lover since my childhood and have been trained from many books and MOOCs. I have also been involved in Dr. Lisa Harvey-Smith’s Professional Astronomy Research Experience: Magnetic Fields in Space (https://www.lisaharveysmith.com/) and an Astronomy Expert university program in Bircham International University (http://www.bircham.edu/ ).

What am I doing for Asteroid Day?

I plan to have a national conference at the HQ of our association “Société Haïtienne d’Astronomie” (Haitian Astronomical Society). We have purchased some materials from a budget supported by online fundraising. At the moment we are now actively sending out invitations to our event. Our focus is the national media. Meanwhile, we have some regional broadcasts in astronomy where we talk also about asteroids and the Asteroid Day.

What challenges am I facing/have I faced in your preparation of events for Asteroid Day?
The biggest challenge is to have people respond effectively to the invitation. In fact, they are so saturated by local social, economical & political troubles. But we plan to send and to re-send the invitations; our public banners are almost done.