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Blog Post:  Posted February 9, 2010, 11:32 am by Kody Leonard

Making the most of what we can get

Country: Haiti

Topics: Emergencies

We're fortunate to have access to lots of low-end electronic equipment here in Haiti. Buildings aren't widely equipped with network cables, so wireless is key to making things work. Off-the-shelf wireless routers usually don't come with a lot of advanced features, but in the days of open source software, I could expand the router's capabilities.

If you are techy, check out http://www.dd-wrt.com to "unleash your router." Those of you that talk geek-speak can appreciate how amazing it was to set up a repeater bridge to get a network printer on the other side of the building online for everyone's use. This was just from a basic wireless router that wouldn't let you do much more than change the name of the wireless network.

On Sunday we made a trip Mirebalais, a city flooded by at least 16,000 people who were displaced by the earthquake. I was relieved to see satellite dishes and computer businesses around town, meaning should we open an office there, then we'd have resources for connecting them to the Internet.

We visited a night club-turned-displacement-camp, where kids were huddled around a small DVD player to watch Jet Li while we met with the owner of the club. He showed us a box of the high-energy biscuits they received. They are the size and weight of bricks, much heavier than I expected. They told us how they crushed them down into a powder and added water to make it easier to feed the kids.

Yesterday, I met up with Fran, who is setting up NetHope partners with antennas to connect to their VSATs. We scouted out our options at the office and we found a break in the trees that will allow us to make the connection! This will give us a more reliable and faster connection when we get it up and running.

Today, I'm headed out to our future Haiti headquarters to assess its IT needs. This particular project has extended my stay here, but it's worth it to make sure our programs are fully functional.

Blog Post:  Posted February 5, 2010, 9:59 pm by Kody Leonard

Find Mercy Corps in Haiti on Google Maps

Country: Haiti

Topics: Emergencies

Google updated their maps on Haiti shortly after the earthquake struck. You can see the destruction and camps all over the city. Gene Kunze, who arrived very early in the response, has been gathering Global Positioning System (GPS) data for various sites where we have been working, giving us an opportunity to share some important locations through Google Maps.

To get started, go to http://maps.google.com and search for "Haiti." At the top of the list you'll see "Haiti Disaster Response Map." Clicking this will reveal some important data about the earthquake. I highly recommend checking "IDP Staging Areas" to see the large camps around Port-au-Prince. Zoom in to yellow areas to see the all the tents being set up. Also check "Haiti Damage Assessment" and click on the gray dots to see a decription of each damaged building. You'll never get through them all.

Below are some other points in interest, including points taken from Gene's work. (You can also copy the GPS coordinates and paste them into the search field in Google Maps.)

National Palace: 18.543283,-72.338811
Not only is the collapse visible, but notice all the tents around the palace.

View Larger Map

Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport: 18.576337,-72.294969
The long lines of cars make getting in and out of the airport and UN compound a long, slow journey.

View Larger Map

American Embassy: 18.563842,-72.249237
People are waiting in endless lines in attempts to get passage to the United States. I feel sorry for them standing out in the open without cover from the scorching sun.

View Larger Map

A Mercy Corps cash-for-work site: 18.567242,-72.24618
This is just one of several.

View Larger Map

A Mercy Corps water and sanitation (WASH) program site: 18.5604719819, -72.2938379413
Hospital site partnered with MERLIN.

View Larger Map

Tonight we had an interview with Wired magazine about the Geographic Information System (GIS) work to see how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are using the technology in Haiti. The UN has been encouraging organizations to provide coordinates of activities to reduce duplication of work and open information to everyone for assessment. The use of GIS in this response is unlike any other implementation we've ever done.

Blog Post:  Posted February 4, 2010, 10:42 am by Kody Leonard

Connecting our team in Haiti

Country: Haiti

Topics: Technology & Internet, Emergencies

Today the Internet has been real fast, relatively speaking. This is a pleasant surprise because some days the speed can be a significant challenge (another shoutout to Blackberries for keeping us connected!), especially as more and more people (at one point 16 of us) connect to the Internet. There's no real way to predict how fast the Internet will be each day, making methods of reducing the amount of data we're transmitting necessary to keep everyone focused on their urgent tasks. Compression and data filtering are key to reducing our network load.

You'd be surprised at how many people have cell phones in Haiti. The cell phone culture here is much different than the U.S. where feature-rich devices are expected no matter the cost. Here, cell phones are simple and very accessible to all levels of income since pre-paid plans are the norm.

I am happy to discover that viruses haven't plagued the office. So far we've only had one infection that really stopped someone's work. Again, connectivity was an issue for many reasons: the person often works in austere environments without a good connection, so virus updates were not current; to obtain the tools I needed for removal, I had to wait a long time to download data; and updates could fail at any point as the connection went down. Fortunately, I came prepared with enough pre-downloaded software to alleviate to make the removal easier.

In Haiti, the connectivity problem in our office will be eliminated soon with an even better and more-reliable connection. I'm hoping our connection through NetHope will also provide another long-term option to investigate. We are upgrading our equipment through a local service provider with the hopes that the connection to their satellite will improve.

The days here are long. It's pretty much work, work, work as soon as you wake up until you need to crash for bed. The busiest parts of the day for me are in the morning before the team heads out and as soon as they return right before dark. The days go by quickly because there's so much to do. The days are hot and as soon as the temperatures start to feel pleasant for this cold weather-acclimated Portlander, the mosquitos begin to swarm.

I somehow slept through the 4.0 tremors last night. However, I was awake to hear gunshots close by, but we think it was someone scaring somebody off rather than an assault.

I quickly learned to make sure I zip up my bags. The cockroaches are trying to catch a ride back to the U.S. with me. I plan on saving that extra space for a local favorite food: Mamba spicy peanut butter.

Blog Post:  Posted February 2, 2010, 5:34 pm by Kody Leonard

Keeping connected

Country: Haiti

Topics: Technology & Internet, Emergencies

I arrived in Haiti yesterday to help our field teams with their IT challenges so they can better deliver aid and recovery programs.

A small plane delivered me and five other aid workers, including two Mercy Corps colleagues, to Port-au-Prince. Our bags were stuffed into any empty space the plane had to offer: in compartments on the wings, in the nose and behind our seats. We landed on a field next to the airport where prime space was taken up by jumbo planes delivering supplies.

Once at the office, there were clear needs for computer support. Blackberries have become vital in our needs for communication while outside of the office. Cell phone coverage is spotty, yet messaging abilities on these devices have been extremely reliable. Without any means of communication, Mercy Corps programs would roll out slowly and security could become a greater concern.

NetHope (http://www.nethope.org) is providing Internet connectivity to Mercy Corps and partner organizations by setting up a high-speed internet connection through long-range WiFi connections to their VSATs (satellite Internet dishes). This requires that there are no obstructions between our office and their satellite. The site survey tomorrow will officially determine if this is possible at our two offices.

The power at the house blinks off and on every once in a while, resetting the connection we have through a local service provider. I was glad to learn that equipment isn't as challenging to find as I feared it would be. I was able to procure a small UPS system today to prevent our connection from going down and disconnecting us from very important calls with HQ.

The rest of my time here will be spent assessing long-term IT needs for the offices and identifying candidates for local IT support. I hope to make contact with other organizations to see what has worked best and learn from each other.