Two groups of University of Wisconsin students and alumni volunteering in Haiti are finally safe, after several went missing following the Jan. 12 earthquake that tore through the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
A group of five UW students of Engineers Without Borders 70 miles north of Port-Au-Prince in Bayonnais Valley, Haiti were on an assessment trip, gathering information on a pipe crossing in need of repair when the earthquake hit.
The students were traveling with a professional surveyor from Madison.
Scott Hamel, spokesperson for the Engineers Without Borders’ Haiti Project, said all the students and the surveyor were unharmed. Hamel said the group was initially scheduled to return Jan. 14. However, following the earthquake, the students were driven by their host families to a bus, which they took to Santiago, Dominican Republic. The students then took a bus to Santo Domingo, where they flew out Jan. 15 and returned to Wisconsin.
UW senior Eyleen Chou was surveying land in a nearby field when the earthquake hit. She said the rumbling was so minor she did not immediately recognize how serious the earthquake was, though the rumbling only felt minor.
“We didn’t really realize the gravity of the situation,” said fellow Engineers Without Borders member Randi Schieber, a UW junior.
Schieber spoke of the sounds of the aftermath of the quake, describing the cries of nearby community members.
“They love each other and mourn for each other in a different way than you see in the U.S.,” he said.
Chou said she checked her e-mail later that night and found concerned messages from family and friends. She said that was when the gravity of the situation began to sink in.
Chou added the needs of the communities of Haiti are now very different. She said it felt odd to think that a week ago she was concerned about improving a pipe crossing.
Chou and fellow Engineers Without Borders students, Schieber and Tyler Lark, a UW senior, and Randi Schieber, UW junior, said they are very concerned for the small communities of Haiti. They said while Port-au-Prince needs a lot of aid, the smaller communities will have a difficult time getting food and supplies with Port-au-Price debilitated.
“We want to do everything we can to help the community,” Chou said.
All three students said they would continue to do what they can to help the communities.Another group of four UW students, alumni and three friends were also in the country volunteering with The Haiti Project, an outreach group associated with the Episcopal Dioceses of Milwaukee that works with a small community in Jeannette, a small Haitian town in the mountains.
UW alumnus James Tamplin and his roommate Andrew Lee went missing for several hours while volunteering with The Haiti Project following the quake. Project Manager of The Haiti Project Jan Byrd said Tamplin and Lee contacted another volunteer on a Facebook page to let the group know they were all right.
UW sophomore Keegan Mackin was also working with the project and flew out of Haiti only hours before the earthquake began. He said he did not know about the earthquake until after his flight landed.
Mackin added after the earthquake, the people of Haiti need more help than before. He said there are a number of relief funds both through his group, The Haiti Project, and on other websites, and he encouraged anyone interested to help.
