EMI Dominican Republic – Reconnaissance
Today we took some time off from our regular schedule to talk a walk around the city and get a feel for what life is like in the Dominican Republic. In the morning, we walked around the local neighborhood with Pastor Elbin of CCR to witness firsthand the community's needs as he explained to us the different ways that he hopes the church can grow to strategically meet them in the near future. Meanwhile, Aaron ...
Posted by Daniel Choe on September 29, 2011 6:06 PM
Why are we here?
Why has eMi organized a design team composed of 18 engineers/architects to work in the Dominican Republic? eMi projects are typically in economically challenged, developing nations. The Dominican Republic does not exactly fit that general descriptions when some think of the nice vacations resorts that are currently being constructed. However, the water here is not suitable to drink, there are many parts of this country that are poverty stricken, and some of the construction ...
Posted by Aaron Quaresma on September 27, 2011 11:39 PM
EMI DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – INTRODUCTION & ORIENTATION
You're Going Where…?
It's September 24th, Aaron Quaresma (Project Engineer from our Oakland office) and I arrived at Santo Domingo (the capital of the Dominican Republic). For those of you (like me) who aren't quite sure exactly where that is, the Dominican Republic (DR) is located in the Caribbean and shares the eastern portion of the island with Haiti. Aaron flew in from Haiti after finishing up his work with Build Change (see ...
Posted by Daniel Choe on September 27, 2011 4:53 PM
Build Change Haiti - Day Five
This has been a great week and a great experience. The people at Build Change are awesome. They have a culture of learning, caring, and a desire to keep improving Haiti through people. This morning I was invited to the weekly Friday morning prayer group. There are a number of people who arrive around 6:30 and spend an hour together reading scripture and praying prior to starting work. It was great to ...
Posted by Aaron Quaresma on September 24, 2011 12:01 AM
Build Change Haiti - Day Three
The main event for today was working with the newly trained engineers. We headed to Ti Sues, which is the new project site that just opened up for Build Change, to start the evaluation and retrofit process. It takes over an hour and half to drive to Ti Sues from the Build Change office. Fourteen people filling various roles drove to the project site in two small extended cab trucks and 1 scooter. ...
Posted by Aaron Quaresma on September 22, 2011 5:36 PM
Build Change Haiti - Day One
I landed at 7:15am and was picked up by the Build Change Logistics Manager Gregory at the airport. Build Change is an organization that is currently working in Haiti. The goal of Build Change is to work with local Haitians on improving the evaluation, retrofit, design, and construction practices. Haiti currently doesn’t have a building code to implement or enforce minimum building standards. Therefore, people build however they have been ...
Posted by Aaron Quaresma on September 21, 2011 5:16 PM
