One year later, quake relief efforts continue

Last Wednesday, an ordinary school or work day for most, marked the one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake disaster.

The earthquake, which occurred Jan. 12, 2010, devastated many cities including the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. According to the BBC, the death toll since the earthquake has risen to above 300,000 and the number of people wounded or left homeless by the event is even higher. Many remain displaced by the quake,

A year ago, the Seattle University campus was wrought with an outpouring of activism in order to help those affected by the disaster, and those still affected today.

"It's part of our call as humans to come together and help those poor people," said Molly Janicki, junior sports and excercise major, the week after the disaster. "Our mission at Seattle U is to serve that call as best we can."

It is clear that this problem hasn't gone away and that the people who have been affected by it still require aid. 

There might not as be much media attention on the country as there was right after the quake, but Seattle U community members are doing what they can to help those people. 

The more recent Haiti-centric humanitarian movements on campus include activism from Shirts Across America and World Water Partners, both of which are involved in other areas besides Haiti, such as Africa and South America.

Another such example is a program that the Seattle U chapter of Engineers Without Borders is undertaking to provide a mechanism that will make clean water for hospitals and health clinics accessible in Haiti. The program, which is headed by civil and environmental engineering professor Phillip Thompson, aims to make water treatment systems that are affordable, easily maintained and compact. 

Immediately after the disaster, students like then-senior biochemistry major Derek Rogalsky were barred from going on their scheduled trip to the Caribbean country.

These days, it is quite the opposite.

Thompson, who has already been involved in providing water treatment for places such as Thailand and Jamaica, was contacted by Seattle U alumnus Vance Warren. 

Warren was there helping with a cholera outbreak that occurred months after the earthquake. Once the need was established for water treatment systems, Thompson went to work raising funds and building more systems.

The water treatment system costs about $6,500 dollars to build and two dollars a day to maintain. The cost of making it and shipping it does not fall on the Haitians and once it's installed the maintenance cost is all they must pay.

When asked about the economic aspects about it, Thompson said, "After a cost analysis on a per liter basis [we found] it is one of the cheapest alternatives." 

Thompson then went on to say that the two dollars a day required to maintain it was definitely affordable for the people using it.

As for the mechanical aspects of it and whether or not intensive training would be required to repair one of these systems, Thompson claimed that their simplicity allowed for minimal training, which vocational schools now offer to Haitians for free.

The program's goal for this year is making 12 systems and as two systems have already been made this year, it is likely that this goal can be achieved. 

"Our ultimate goal is that we can provide every hospital and clinic with water treatment system," Thompson said. 

This very ambitious and altruistic goal is limited by the amount of money that this program is able to raise. 

Most of the funds, according to Thompson, come from Rotary clubs. These clubs, according to Rotary International, have more than 1.2 million members and 33,000 clubs worldwide that provide humanitarian aid across the globe. 

According to Thompson, most of the $100,000 needed for the project goal this year will likely be raised from donations by these clubs. 

The Spectator will continue to follow the progress of EWB and their activities concerning the Haitian people.

John may be reached at jbeaton@su-spectator.com