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.