Hello there! My name is Nina Morrissey, I am an Industrial and Interaction Design major at Syracuse University. This summer I began working for Information and Technology Services (ITS) at SU. When I opened the email inviting me to apply for this trip I literally yelled out loud “Oh my gosh! What? We can go to Haiti!?” From that moment I knew I had to go. Ever since I started studying Industrial Design I have had it in my head that I want to somehow use my major to help people in underprivileged countries. When I was excepted to go on the trip I knew it was going to be the start of something great.
During my job this summer we have been working to upgrade the wireless network on our campus. Part of this includes switching out old wireless access points on campus and putting in new ones. These old access points are usually sold back to the company, however some of them instead made it onto a shipment to Haiti with our team to follow.
When we arrived at the airport in Port-Au-Prince it was my first live taste of what kind of life I was entering into. The majority of the original airport was destroyed in the January 2010 earthquake so we were shuffled into a packed airport, through customs and off the baggage area, with each station being only feet from each other. We waited about an hour for checked luggage to come through and then we hustled onto a bus where we were shipped off the hotel.
On Sunday we were able to tour PAP to get a taste of the place we were trying to help. Our tour guide Jackie was very knowledgeable about Haiti since she has been here since she came as a young missionary and later decided to spend her life working in the country. Her driver Jeffrard shuffled us around the city showing us the “gingerbread houses,” grafitti, and we were able to visit a metal working village where beautiful sculptures were made out of old metal oil barrels. What impressed me most was the way Haitians recycle. So many thing are given a second life, or a second use, instead of being thrown out after they seem out of date as is in the norm in America.
Getting our shipment of supplies through customs has been rather frustrating. It seems that things in Haiti move on their own time. On Monday and Tuesday we went to 3 of the colleges of the University of Haiti and were able to survey the area and measure the buildings so that we could make maps to figure out how we were going to wire the campus so that they can have a better internet access.
Thankfully today we were able to get our materials through customs. We went to the college of Law and the college of Science and Economics to begin installing our equipment. With the help of our maps that we had made on Monday and Tuesday, we were able to work rather quickly to begin running cables through a few of the buildings to where we would be putting the wireless access points.
Although it was exciting to get some of the physical work done, it was even more interesting to talk to some of the students at the colleges to get their opinions on what we are trying to do. Basically the internet access that they have right now on their whole campus is less than you have in your own home. One of the students I talked to said it would be “like a dream” if they had quality internet access at school. All of the students I talked to were very kind to us and most spoke excellent English. Stephan and Ashuil have been especially helpful in translating for us with those who do not speak English.
Tomorrow we will be up bright and early to begin work again. We hope to not get set behind by hurricane Emily which is currently heading our way. The hotel has been boarding up the windows of the hotel lobby in preparation for the rain and wind. We are all eager to continue working without any further delays.
Bon Soir!
Nina