Making the most of what we can get

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.

One of the boxes of high-energy biscuits that we delivered to displaced families in Mirebalais. Photo: Kody Leonard/Mercy Corps

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.