Haiti– Inuqua University

[Marc was part of a team of professors and Campus Crusade students who spoke in makeshift classrooms at the university. They also worked on providing clean drinking water and food in one of the areas heavily damaged by the earthquake. - Ed.]

“This morning we were invited into a Haitian 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 Haitian students were engaged and asking questions. Methods for clean water is an obvious need for everyone here. Even us.

“At one of the local schools we brought in equipment.Those students now have the high-capacity Culligan filter unit operational. It is designed to provide 10 gal/min of clean drinking water. Right now there is a strong sulphur smell that makes the water undrinkable. We are all still relying on the little solar powered water purifier from Embry-Riddle University. It was built by Embry-Riddle students and funded mainly by Florida Power and Light (www.fpl.com) with an additional contribution by Solar Fit (www.solar-fit.com) in Daytona Beach.”

“We left them with about 40 color printouts of an extremely low cost solar method for purifying water called SODIS . 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 students and sponsors were really motivated to know that this is not just a one shot deal. We are helping Haiti for the longterm, not the short term. I am already recruiting students and professors who want to spend a couple weeks with us next summer in Haiti.



“Another team is there this summer conducting a needs assessment of the universities. Next summer we will be helping to meet needs as well as other areas of the country. If any professors are interested in helping me, they can contact me.”


“P.S. No, Shannon and I are not adopting from Haiti, but I sure see how it could happen.”