Is this Building Safe? Mobilizing Earthquake Engineers to Help Assess the Damage

Ron Kernan of KPFF and Sophia Tassy (left) and Craig Totten of KPFF (right) perform structural assessments of damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince.

A warehouse full of food aid is rocked by another series of aftershocks in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The World Food Program needs to know fast if the building is safe enough to enter to remove the aid or whether it’s all just a loss. That was a key question that a team of earthquake and structural engineering experts sponsored by AIDG with support from Partners in Health was able to help answer.

In the early days after the devastating Haiti quake, we needed to determine how an NGO of our size could contribute to the humanitarian response and provide help that people would not otherwise get.

In partnership with MCEER and the engineering firm KPFF, we have fielded 11 structural and earthquake engineering teams to perform rapid assessments of damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel for the UN, the Haitian government, local and international NGOs and private citizens. The teams have together assessed over 1400 buildings including hospitals, clinics, schools, government buildings, warehouses and homes.

Training masons to Build Back Better

AIDG's training coordinator, Adajah Codio (left) and a mason training in session (right)

“How can I repair this?” was a question our engineering volunteers heard over and over again in the weeks and months after the earthquake. Homeowners and business owners were grateful for the building safety assessments, but they also desperately wanted information on how to repair and rebuild.

So in partnership with Architecture for Humanity and KPFF Consulting Engineers, AIDG has begun retraining masons in metro Port-au-Prince and Jacmel in confined masonry techniques that would make buildings significantly more earthquake resistant. To date we have trained 560 masons. In the coming months (pending funding) we will train 9,500 more.

Business Incubation: AIDG Funds Solar Startup Enersa

Enersa co-founder Jean-Ronel Noel (middle). Enersa Solar LED streetlights installations in Haiti (left and right).

This past February, AIDG gave Haitian solar start-up, ENERSA, a $15,000 emergency loan to help rebuild its factory damaged in the January 12 earthquake.

Pre-quake, Enersa was the fastest growing solar company in Haiti with a product line that included solar street lighting, residential and commercial systems, as well as solar chargers for devices such as cell phones and lamps.

In a chat with AIDG, Enersa co-founded JR Noël stressed the importance of creating jobs in Haiti. He believes that for Haiti to flourish, businesses need to create local employment. The company’s 18 fully qualified solar technicians, all capable of installing solar streetlights and photovoltaic home systems, are from Port-au-Prince largest shantytown, Cité Soleil.

Business Incubation: AIDG Backs Shelter2Home As Housing Solution for Displaced Families In Haiti

AIDG provides Shelter2Home with a $15,000 rapid investment

S2H Emergency Shelter Type 1 (left). S2H Permanent home in Sri Lanka (right)

The Haiti quake damaged or destroyed 20 to 90% of all housing stock the in metro Port-au-Prince area. In response to the great need, many companies came forward offering housing solutions of varying quality and appropriateness, but only one company stood out for us. Shelter2Home offered emergency shelters, built from light-gauge galvanized steel, that could be transitioned into safe and beautiful permanent homes during reconstruction. They were also one of the only businesses that had plans to manufacture in country, thus creating much-needed jobs. Based on these factors, AIDG has awarded S2H with a $15,000 rapid investment.

CEO Donald Stevens was inspired to start S2H by his time spent in Sri Lanka after the tsunami where he saw NGOs struggle to transition displaced families from emergency structures to permanent homes.

With a Little Help

Solar flashlights delivered to women is Camp Ismary. Shelterboxes delivered to the general hospital. Water delivered to worshippers during 3 days of mourning.

Mar 2010: AIDG distributed BoGoLights (solar flashlights) from Earthspark International to Camp Ismary in Port-au-Prince.

Feb 2010: We distributed Handicap International Shelterboxes to the TB ward of the Port-au-Prince General Hospital.

Feb 2010: On the 3 days of mourning after the quake, AIDG and SOIL distributed water to crowds gathered in prayer.

Thank You

Thank you to our friends, supporters and volunteers who have helped us at this critical time. A special thanks goes out to Matthew 25 House for providing a home base for us and many other small NGOs, Sasha Kramer (SOIL) and Melinda Miles (Konpay) for being constant inspirations, and the entire AIDG team for putting in very long, very hard hours in the aftermath of this disaster.

A big big huge thanks to Peter Wheeler and Commonwealth Financial Group, Al and Diane Kaneb, Partners in Health and Architecture for Humanity for their generous donations and grants that made the above work possible.