A

s multimedia artist Gail 
Rosenbloom Kaplan sadly reads 
about the devastating problems 
facing residents of Haiti, she also looks back 
on the six days she happily spent in the 
country as a volunteer art teacher.
Kaplan’s travels to Haiti, at the end of 
summer, were busy times although even 
then it was not safe for her 
to visit the spaces outside the 
orphanage where she had vol-
unteered. 
The Have Faith Haiti 
Mission & Orphanage, in 
Port-au-Prince, is run by writ-
er-broadcaster Mitch Albom, 
who has reported on bring-
ing youngsters to America for additional 
schooling and medical treatment. 
“The kids at the orphanage were fortunate 
to be isolated in many ways,
” said Kaplan, 
a University of Michigan art graduate who 
has painted, sculpted, displayed and taught 
her work for 40 years. “Our days together 
were filled with learning, playing and expe-
riencing art to communicate feelings.
”
Kaplan had been asked to volunteer at 
the suggestion of a woman she met while 
doing similar work at Children’s Hospital of 
Michigan in Detroit, where she was teach-
ing youngsters how to paint T-shirts and 
create three-dimensional projects. Kaplan 
worked with in-patients for nine years 
before the pandemic.
“Connie Vallee, who looks after the chil-
dren from Haiti, first wanted me to work 
with the Haitian youngsters being treated 
in Detroit, but I explained that I was only 
allowed to help those who were staying at 
the hospital,
” Kaplan said. “I did invite the 
others to my studio to create projects.
”
Vallee arranged for the visiting children 
to participate and, from those experiences, 
Kaplan met Albom, who set up the sessions 
in Haiti. 
“I planned projects for the youngsters and 
was joined and helped by my sister, Anne 
Klisman, a retired school counselor,
” Kaplan 
said. “I wanted them to have experiences 

that would be meaningful for the youngsters 
and the adults who cared for them.
“The boys and girls who work with me 
know that I wear a smock, and they like to 
do the same so we brought smocks for the 
children to share.
”
Kaplan was very impressed by the way 
the children responded to her.
 “The orphanage was a fantastic place, 
and they had a fantastic school program,
” 
she said. “It was at the end of their summer 

vacation and before school started when we 
were there. We had traveled with Mitch and 
his wife, Janine, an amazing team.
”
Kaplan did not have to pay for supplies. 
They were provided by Albom and the 
business people who regularly handle her 
product needs. 
After painting T-shirts and pillowcases 
for everyone regularly in the building, par-
ticipants went on to making art of colored 
sand placed on a sticky board. They also 

50 | DECEMBER 22 • 2022 

ARTS&LIFE
ART
Teaching Art to Orphans in Haiti

Gail 
Rosenbloom 
Kaplan

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF GAIL ROSENBLOOM KAPLAN

TOP: Mitch Albom takes a peek at the work in progress. ABOVE: The finished wall mosaic.

