One Hundred For Haiti
Greg Bennick
Why should we care about people who survive an earthquake who live half a
world away? Why should we care about anyone other than ourselves? These are
fundamental questions, the answers to which relate to politics, human rights,
and the survival of our species as a whole. In this ten minute talk, Greg
Bennick will explore the methods of psychological restraint that we
unwittingly employ that prevent us from caring about others and in fact cause
us to lash out against them. We will explore the idea that judgement and
restraint provides what feels like freedom, but in actuality keeps us bound
and unfulfilled in life and in ourselves. What are the psychological processes
that create this reality for us? This talk will be framed from the perspective
of Greg’s eyewitness accounts of the events this year in Haiti after the
earthquake and his five trips there, and the reactions of those he has met
throughout the world during his efforts to elicit compassion and action on
behalf of survivors.
About Greg Bennick:
Greg is the founder of One Hundred For Haiti and has been to Haiti seven
times since the earthquake. Immediately after the January 12th earthquake in
Haiti, Greg was on the crew of the Liberty Schooner, an all-volunteer mission
that sailed from Miami to the southern coast of Haiti to bring 10,000 pounds
of medical supplies and food to the people in most dire need. The Liberty and
its crew were the first independent relief boat to reach the southern coast of
Haiti from the United States and Greg received international press coverage of
the trip on the Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio program. He realized the need
for ongoing involvement and One Hundred For Haiti campaign responded to that
need, through ongoing support and development projects. Greg is also the co-
founder of The World Leaders Project, a multi-year initiative to discuss
issues related to the psychology of human violence face-to-face with world
leaders, an initiative that led to a meeting with the President of Guyana as
well as correspondence with other governments as well. He was the co-producer
of the multi-award winning documentaries “Flight From Death: The Quest for
Immortality” and “The Philosopher Kings”, two films which explore often unseen
sides of the human experience: our relationship with death and the effect that
this has on our psyche, and the quest for wisdom and with whom in our social
strata does that wisdom reside. He makes his living as a keynote speaker
worldwide.
