UPDATE 4/8/2010:  ON the ground in Haiti, first pictures:

UPDATE 4/1/2010: Countries and international organizations pledged nearly $10 billion on Wednesday to rebuild Haiti after January's earthquake, going far beyond the government's expectations and providing new hope to the impoverished nation.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36114594/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/from/ET 

UPDATE 3/29/2010:  See article by Dr. William DeJong: School Construction News 

UPDATE 3/26/2010:

Conference calls are continuing.  Every other week, a conference call will be held for each of the following committees.  Individuals and organizations are encouraged to join.  To sign up to become active in a committee and for call in information, please email Edi at edi@cefpi.org. 

1. Design Guidelines and Standards - FIRST CALL 3/29 - 5pm EST
2. Evaluation / Structural Soundness /Assessments - FIRST CALL 3/29 - 5pm EST
3. Marketing / PR / Communications (websites, press releases, partnerships, NGOs, outreach …) - NEXT CALL 4/1 - 5pm EST
4. Information Technology (Data basing in conjunction with Assessments, Info structure within the country, Tech design in schools)   - NEXT CALL 4/1 - 5pm EST
5. Fundraising (strategies, events, ideas)  - NEXT CALL 4/1 - 5pm EST
6. Logistics (travel plans, in country support)
7. Administration (internal communications, follow-up, financial tracking & reporting, translations)
8. Individual School Construction (deciding on projects, effectiveness, where to start, actual construction)
9. Connections (arranging meetings for the committees, Ministry of Education, US Government, Canada’s Government Grant, World Bank, USAID
10. First Trip Volunteers (tentative dates: April 16-26, tentative cost: $2,000/person)

 

UPDATE 2/15/2010: A school collapsed today in Haiti killing 3 children. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585983,00.html

UPDATE 2/4/2010:  SCW Co-Founder, Chuck Newman was on Chicago Public Radio's World View today.  http://www.wbez.org/content.aspx?audioID=39818

UPDATE 2/3/2010:  The National Counsel of Structural Engineers Association has joined the efforts in Haiti.  www.NCSEA.com.   SCW Canada has also jointed the cause.  www.SCWCanada.org.

HISTORICAL POST:
We at CEFPI and SCW join the rest of the world in offering our most sincere and heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the people of Haiti during this devastating time.  We are partnering together to establish a relief effort.  Our first priority is to establish a database of volunteers who are willing to participate on the Haiti Task Force. This task force is formulating strategies on how we as an organization can best help in the recovery process, as the need will be monumental in re-building the damaged and destroyed schools.  Our initial list of tasks and skill sets include the following:

 

·         Initial Assessment:

o   Structural engineers  with seismic expertise to assess the safety of remaining school facilities

o   Volunteers to assist with the clean-up efforts

·         Schools that can be repaired will need:

o   Project Managers to manage project funds and provide project oversight

o   Architects and Engineers to provide design solutions

o   Contractors to make the needed repairs

o   Fund raisers to identify and secure resources

·         Facilities that cannot be repaired will need:

o   Project Managers to manage the project funds and provide project oversight

o   Contractors to help with the demolition and cleanup

o   Educational Facility Planners, Architects, and Engineers with seismic experience to plan and design replacement facilities

o   Fund raisers to identify and secure resources

 

We anticipate several week-long trips to conduct assessments within the next two months.  Each volunteer can expect to pay $1,500-2,000 to participate.  Volunteers may sign up here. Donations for this effort may be made through Schools for the Children of the World  (a 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization). Know that 100% of donations received will go towards schools relief in Haiti. 

 

Please keep checking our website for updates on our immediate and long-term response efforts.  We anticipate the recovery will take quite some time but want to ensure that we do our utmost to support the effort.