Tuesday, March 22, 2011 I

TechNews

IPRO 335 in Haiti: clays 4 and 5

By Simon Brauer
TECHNEWS WRITER

After the previous night and its eight—
legged surprises, we were at last happy to wake
up refreshed and ready to check back with
our potential trial schools. We had time to
walk around the now well—lit hotel and relax.
By mid—morning, our drivers arrived and we
returned to the second school in Lascahobas.
We decided not to visit the first school, as we
felt that we had already discussed many of
our current questions with the administra—
tors during our first visit. We looked over the
other two schools, however, as we wanted to
see what they truly offered, both benefits and
challenges.

We greeted the sisters of Ecole Saint Gabriel
for the second time that week, as we began to
probe deeper into the structure and culture of
the school. Many aspects we discussed were
promising: the teachers were already utiliz—
ing the laptops in their daily curriculum and
clearly were very positive concerning the value
of technology in their school. They were also
excited to utilize teaching materials that would
help the children understand what solar in—
stallation does and how All in all, the teach—
ers seemed willing to work with us not only
in bringing their students power but also in
conveying the value of the solar installation
and expanding their education. The roof, upon
further inspection, was still rather weak but at
least could be braced properly for installation.

We then headed on foot to the third school
we had visited. Walking through the town was
amazing, seeing the open side—walk shops and
groups of people gathering together as a com—
munity. Children would stare as we passed,
or run by, not even giving us a second glance.
Others saw our cameras and came up to pose.
One little boy would sit still just long enough
for us to raise our cameras, then dash away,
only to return again. It was only about a 12
minute walk, but soon we were standing be—
fore the outwardly demolished but deceivingly
sturdy Ecole Baptiste. Much like the previous
school, the teachers here had encouraged us—
age of laptops in the classrooms and were more

 

than willing to help us teach the children about
our installation. We also learned that the flat
concrete structure would be perfect for a solar
array.

To our surprise, we were then led to a fourth
school which we were not familiar with. More
of a showcase of what all Lascahobas schools
face (ours were not the exceptions), Ecole
Mixte was very similarly built to Ecole Bap—
tiste. However, we did not have enough time to
discuss the project with the school officials and
so Ecole Mixte left a big question mark in our
analysis. Once we had finished, we returned to
the middle of the town for a traditional Haitian
meal in the home of the Lascahobas school dis—
trict superintendent (or the rough equivalent
thereof) and then left for Port—au—Prince.

After three days of riding in the back of
their tiny 90’s Honda, we knew something
wasn’t right with the car. If the smoke released
from the air conditioning wasn’t bad enough,
the car finally came to a stop outside of town.
After much frustrations trying to tow it (our
rope broke, as did its replacement, a severed
seat—belt), we finally got it back into Mirebalais
where it could be repaired... except this meant
that nine (by my count) full—grown adults
would have to squeeze into the cabin and bed
of the truck, all the way over the mountain and
into the city. Needless to say, after several in—
toxicating rides in the fume—filled SRT, 1 hap—
pily took a cabin seat and let the women enjoy
the truck bed.

From there, our work was complete. One
more night in the Prince Hotel and another
great meal with the Haitian team members
the next day closed out our trip. We did visit
the Ministry of Education Friday morning,
just to give them an update on our work and
what we had been planning. Other than that,
though, we took our final drive to the airport,
caught our flight, and landed safely back home
in the Windy City, ready for another semester
of IPRO 335.

For more information on IPRO 335, please
check out http://iitempoweringhaiti.org/ and
the IITEmpowering Haitifacebook pagefor ap-
dates, events, and pictures of our work.

 

( Photo courtesy Simon Brauer)

campus@technewsiit.com

    

RYAN KAMPHIUS
UTSAV GANDHI

Potential cuts to
Pell Grants

By The Office of
Financial Aid

Hello everyone! This week, the Financial Aid Department would like to talk about the
Pell Grant, which provides financial aid to families and helps send their children to great
colleges like HT. Unfortunately, current events in Congress may threaten Pell grant dis—
bursements.

The Office of Financial Aid would like to raise student awareness to what is currently
happening in United States Congress with regards to funding for the Pell Grant. Approxi—
mately 40% of undergraduate students receive Pell Grant funding at HT. The Pell Grant
provides opportunity for lower income families to afford an education at an institution like
HT and we want to see this program funded to the maximum extent possible. The origi—
nal Pell Grant was created in 1965 and was then called the Basic Educational Opportunity
Grant. The Higher Education Act of 1965 was formed to guide the basis of awarding student
aid programs. This act still stands to day and the amendments to it guide our current award
practices at HT.

The Senate is currently debating whether or not to cut some of the Pell Grant funding for
the 2011—2012 academic year. The House of Representatives already voted on this budget
and approved it with the Pell Grant cuts. If you receive the Pell Grant or would like to ad—
vocate on behalf of your fellow students who do, please consider taking action by contact—
ing your senators. To find out who your senators are, you can visit: http://www.senate.gov/
general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm. This website allows you to search by your
home state and then links you to a senator’s web form, where you can write a letter express—
ing your concerns. If you have any questions ab out this process or how federal student aid
works, please don’t hesitate to contact our office at finaid@iit.edu.

 

CMC)“

Successful Careers Start Here www.cmc.iit.edu

x" /
Networking Event 7
3' March 30th .'

l. ' 4:30-6:30

Come and meet potential employers!

First 100 students with approved CMC resumes.
First 50 registered students receive Barnes and Noble $10 gift card!
To register visit www.cmc.iit.edu
Phone: 312—567—6800