After nearly two days of intense meetings, the MIT-Haiti Symposium concluded on Friday with a call to action. Symposium organizer, Michel DeGraff, provides a brief summary: Our Haitian colleagues, like us at MIT, do realize that the task ahead is daunting and will require extraordinary creativity and fortitude. Yet many of the Haiti participants believe [...]
BLOSSOMS module “Can Earthquakes be Predicted” by Zach Adam of Teachers Without Borders, translated by Yvon Lamour (Cambridge Public School District) and Michel DeGraff (MIT), and with Kreyòl voiceover by Yvon Lamour. MIT Tech TV
Jacky Lumarque points Symposium participants at this article as the starting point for his presentation. Ten days after the earthquake, Quisqueya had organized a volunteer system. First the medical students set up in a tent on the parking lot. They were supervised initially by their teachers, then by a team of Slovak doctors who arrived [...]
“I believe the role of the university is to create opportunity, pure and simple. We create opportunity for young people, for cities, and nations ... And people everywhere need opportunity. ” Charles M. Vest
Carlo Darbouze Carl Darbouze holds a Bachelor Degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Columbia, and a Master of Science Degree in System Engineering and Computer Science from Howard University. He has been an IT specialist for many years, and has taught computer and math classes at various universities, [...]
“How are we going to restore education? Is it time to rethink the educational system in Haiti?”
Hérissé Guirand Hérissé Guirand graduated with a B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering from the State University of Haiti in 1981. He earned a Master's Degree in Information Systems Applied to Management from the University Paul Sabatier of Toulouse ( France) in 1984. He had an internship at IBM France in Quality Control Department (1984). [...]
Jean-Marie Théodat provides new perspectives on basic and higher education programs in Haiti. One of the major challenges our generation is facing in Haiti is the lack of education and human resources in the rebuilding of a sustainable society. Traditionally Haiti has been counting on foreign countries for the definition of its higher education framework. [...]
Thomas A. Kochan, chair of the MIT faculty and professor of management, describes the next steps in MIT's collaboration with Haiti. "Our role in helping Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake illustrates both the strengths and weaknesses of how we respond to requests for engagement. Clearly, the magnitude of the devastation and the close proximity [...]
As a proof-of-concept, OCW collaborated with Université Caraïbe, Mr. Menès Dejoie (Haitian Educators League for Progress), and Professors Alfred Noël (UMass-Boston) and Michel DeGraff (MIT) to produce a translated caption file for a lecture in MIT's 18.01 Single Variable Calculus. We have embedded OCW's site here--you can also view the full site.
