Classroom time and Cultural exchange

This morning we were invited into a Hatian classroom at Inuqua University for a technical discussion on water borne pathogens, low cost water purification methods, and cultural exchange.

The first surprise to the American students was being asked to stand for the opening prayer. Wow. It was refreshing.

Haiti’s education system is almost entirely in French so we used translators. The first part of the guest lecture went well because terms like bacteria, virus, polio, and hepatitis all translate directly. But stories about getting sick from drinks with ice made from bad water were a bit more difficult. The Hatian students were engaged and asking questions. Methods for clean water is an obvious need for everyone here. Even us.

We left them with about 40 color printouts of an extremely low cost solar method for purifying water called SODIS (www.sodis.ch). The fliers are written in French and have easy pictorials for folks who cannot read. These university students can obviously can – multiple languages, in fact – but the material was still new to all. Even our US students.

The second photo below is from our cultural exchange time. We had some US students come up front and share their major, hometown, and something that has impressed them about Haiti and it’s people. The Hatian students asked questions and engaged well. They also expressed their thanks for us coming to help and one expressed his vision and hopes for Haiti. It was inspiring.

These students are Haiti’s future leaders. They are passionate and have great enthusiasm and energy. Haiti needs them