Starstruck Talent Benefits to raise awareness, funds to prevent illiteracy in Haiti

Imagine a Haitian girl, who, like many of her peers in elementary school, doesn’t appreciate the importance of learning, and in defiance, buries her schoolbook in the ground. Suddenly, her hometown is devastated by a huge earthquake, and soon she realizes the importance of that book.

This is the concept of a skit that will be performed at the Starstruck Talent Benefit by the World Illiteracy Stops Here organization to teach audiences about the education crisis in Haiti.

Anmol Rangoola, a fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, said she joined WISH because of its specific cause.

“Illiteracy was something I hadn’t thought about as being a problem associated with world poverty,” Rangoola said.

As she learned more about WISH through head director and co-founder Naina Singh, a fourth-year biochemistry student, Rangoola soon after became involved with the program, which provides local and global community service and teaching programs to prevent illiteracy in the developing world. Starting as a volunteer who joined members in helping elementary school students read through a local partnership with Reading on Wheels, Rangoola is now the head of fundraising for WISH.

The two-hour benefit will feature 10 performances from UCLA student groups including Awaken A Cappella and the Synthesis Dance Theater. The program will also feature Dr. Gyanam Mahajan, a professor in the department of Asian languages and cultures, who will be speaking about literacy and how it pertains to students socially.

According to Singh, the organization decided to focus its efforts on Haiti this year because of the 2010 earthquake that destroyed around 4,000 schools in Haiti, which accounted for 90 percent of its education system.

Singh said the money goes toward airfare for the volunteers to fly to Haiti and teach children for two weeks. Money will also go toward purchasing children’s books and school supplies.

Singh said she wanted to start the WISH organization at UCLA because she wanted to have a more hands-on volunteering experience.

“Literacy is something that I’m passionate about, and I wanted to be part of something where I could physically help. It’s gratifying for me and I think people appreciate it more,” Singh said.

The organization, which has been active on campus for three years, sent volunteers to India last year using the money it raised from last year’s Starstruck Benefit. Rangoola was one of two volunteers who were able to teach students in India.

“When we’re in college, it’s hard to visualize a problem that’s so far away, but going to India, I saw 18- to 19-year-olds who had been in school but could not put a single sentence in English together,” Rangoola said.

Rangoola said she worked to help the students learn while also encouraging them and boosting their self-confidence in speaking English. She also said the most difficult thing besides the language barrier was convincing parents that their children’s education was important.

“There were parents who didn’t want their children to attend school because they thought of only short-term consequences. … They wanted their children to work and earn money so they could afford food instead of attending school,” Rangoola said.

As an intern for head director Singh, second-year physiological science student Harman Rahal also said that she wants people to come to be more educated about the problems in Haiti.

“We want people to come and learn the reason behind Starstruck and have some connection to a different part of the world. … In college we’re all wrapped up in our own world and forget how lucky we are to get this education,” Rahal said.