The Penn Stater Magazine

Alum Matthew Marek, On the Ground in Haiti

January 15, 2010 at 4:14 pm Lori Shontz 2 comments

If you’ve been following reports from Haiti, chances are you’ve seen Matthew Marek ’98, who is director of programs in Haiti for the American Red Cross and one of the main sources of information on the catastrophic earthquake. Marek has been interviewed on CNN, and his photos have been distributed by The Associated Press.

He took a roundabout route to Haiti. After graduating with a degree in economics, he worked as an investment banker, but quit to join the Peace Corps a few years later.

In this Red Cross bio, he says, “Haiti blew me away—its natural beauty, its incredible poverty, its dynamic culture. That was more than five years ago. I stayed because I was making a difference. I learned French and Creole. When I got the chance to join the American Red Cross’s work in Haiti, I jumped at the chance. It seemed like a perfect fit. I don’t want to sound too corny, but it’s an honor to be associated with the emblem, and with what it stands for.”

American Red Cross photo by Matthew Marek

You can read this story from The Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to learn a little more about Marek, and you can watch him talking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper here. To see more photos, click here for the American Red Cross’ Flickr photo stream from Haiti.

Thanks for Vicki Fong ’81, manager of publications and public relations for the College of Liberal Arts, for the heads up.

Lori Shontz, senior editor

Entry filed under: College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State alumni. Tags: American Red Cross, Anderson Cooper, CNN, earthquake, Haiti, Matthew Marek, Peace Corps, The Citizens Voice.