Student helps Haiti hydrate

The aftermath of the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 looked so real to sophomore industrial engineering major Maya Basquin that she felt called to help.

"It was a gut-wrenching feeling and a hard moment, but the resilience that I saw in the people covered by the media was also encouraging," Basquin said. "At that point, I just knew we were all called to do something in Haiti, but I was not sure what. I just knew I needed to get there as soon I could."

Although Basquin grew up in Miramar, Fla., her mother and father were born and raised in Haiti. With extended family members who were affected by the earthquake, the devastation was personal for Basquin.

Basquin's mother was apprehensive for her to go to Haiti, but during her freshmen orientation, an opportunity presented itself. UCF's chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a nonprofit student service organization, was looking for people and ways to install fresh water systems in Haiti.

"At that moment, I just knew that was it...that was how I was going to help Haiti, and I knew I had to go," Basquin said.

Basquin became a member of EWB and quickly attained the organization's treasurer and secretary positions, holding both simultaneously.

Andrew Ivey, EWB's president, was more than happy to see Basquin grow within the organization.

"We are always open to all majors and all people of as many skill sets as possible," Ivey said. "The more people that join, the more good we can do."

Last May, Basquin and 16 other members of EWB traveled to Mare Brignol, a small village in the mountains of Haiti, to help rebuild the community and install water filtration systems for its people.

"Water was our first priority in helping Haiti, because within a developing nation, even in its biggest city, running water just isn't there," James DeMarco, UCF graduate and EWB project manager, said.

Basquin was excited to get to work as soon as she walked out of the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but she was quickly turned off at the amount of beggars, the soldiers with rifles and the crushed Presidential Palace.

"Last time I was there, the grass was green and the flowers were magenta, and now it is just in shambles," Basquin said. "It was a bit shocking, and I didn't quite know how to handle it at first."

The eight-hour drive to the village helped Basquin feel more at ease as she started to get a taste for what people were like in Haiti, despite their current living conditions.

"The driver just knew everyone, and when one man on the road asked him for a single banana to feed his hunger, the driver gave him a big stack of bananas even though he was hungry too," Basquin said. "That is just what you do in Haiti. You help each other, because everyone is your brother or sister in some way."

This simple mentality was the mantra of EWB's entire visit.

"Our passion is to make a difference," Ivey said. "I joined EWB because it provides an outlet for my desire to help people."

Within Mare Brignol, EWB installed 34 Biosand water filtration systems. The box filtration system includes two inches of sand called the biolayer, where bacteria-eating microbes eat away contaminates in rainwater that is poured into the filter, until the water is 95 percent free of all contaminates.

"The Biosand filters are much more sustainable than other attempted water filtration systems in Haiti, with no chemicals or electricity required," Ivey said.

Haiti is working with thousands of non-governmental agencies that have ideas of how to implement clean water filtration systems but lack the knowledge of how to do so successfully.

"I saw three large-scale water systems in Mare Brignol that have failed because they used pumps, motors or chemicals and had no one in charge of them," Ivey said. "The motor will break without anyone able to fix it, and the chemicals will run out without being able to replace it."