Pat Phelan: Bits, bytes and telecomsMobile, Roaming and Social Media

46 comments...What do you think?

1. Posted by Ben Chapman 14th February, 2010 at 12:58 pm

   Just another point, if the mobile phone network(s) were down then why would they need 5 iPhones?

2. Posted by Steph 14th February, 2010 at 1:05 pm

   I have to admit I had similar thoughts when I heard about the project.

   I don’t know a lot about disaster relief and recovery plans but I think I know enough about the Haitian situation to understand that they’re still struggling with getting the basics like clean water, food and shelter back in place.

   I don’t see the need for such focus on something like a telecoms network and providing Internet access to people who probably give their right arm to put a roof over their heads and get life back to some kind of normality.

   I’m sure it’s as you say Pat, well meant and so on but I have to agree that it appears to be a bit of a selfish venture. That’s coming from someone who thinks the same of news organisations who send teams of journalists and crew out there at great expense and effort – by all means yes, we need news like this reported and given profile but surely these resources (effort, money, transport) could be put to better use to help those struggling to get life back in order.

3. Posted by Michele 14th February, 2010 at 1:38 pm

   Pat

   100% agreed.

   The people of Haiti need water, food, shelter and medicine. The only people who should be allowed in to Haiti are those with proper training AND experience in dealing with disasters etc.,

   There are plenty of NGOs working in Haiti that are able to give the right kind of assistance to the people there. Personally I’d prefer to give my money to those organisations that are able to help not just in Haiti but elsewhere when it is needed, which is why I setup a donation page for Medecins Sans Frontieres and pushed it to our (Blacknight) clientele

   Suggesting that the people in Haiti need wifi is just plain odd.

   Michele

4. Posted by Branedy 14th February, 2010 at 1:42 pm

   While in the navy I spent a weekend in Haiti 30 years ago. At a time of 0.50$ gas in the U.S. their gas was 4.50$. The water was unsafe to drink, the royal palace had paint pealing from it. And most of the country did NOT have electricity, The majority of the population lived in shanty towns, frankly, not much different than what currently exists now.

   They do NOT need WiFi, most do NOT need cell phones, they need housing and clean water, food, and fuel for fires to cook with. High Tech has never touched this place, and isn’t ‘required’ now, or in the foreseeable future.

5. Posted by Molly 14th February, 2010 at 2:32 pm

   As I understand it, since the rains have now arrived in Haiti, what the people need most is shelter, and I saw a report from an NGO (sorry, don’t remember which one) saying that sending tents now is too late — they will take too long to arrive, and lots and lots of plastic sheeting (for putting on poles) is more acceptable.

   What Haitians need most is water, food and shelter. I saw one comment today saying that the Haitian Gov’t has circus tents, but the people have?? nothing still. And I strongly suspect that the US Gov.t has an agenda that does beyond “helping” or they wouldn’t be diverting planes from Medecins sans Frontieres, while allowing their own troops and their supplies in first. The massive delay in aid distribution was a direct result of the US military having control of the airport.

   I think this project is ill-conceived, and unnecessary, the people travelling will most likely have little experience of disaster zones? and could well be thoroughly in the way, as well as arriving with an unnecessary service. I cannot imagine what they are doing, unless it’s for some sort of “adventure holiday” with expenses paid by the public. I’m sorry but — give your money and support to an established NGO.

6. Posted by Peter Tanham 14th February, 2010 at 2:48 pm

   This isn’t an official statement or anything, but I was working in one of the big Telcos in Jan and was personally involved in doing our small bit to help (zero-rating calls and roaming charges to/in Haiti) and if memory serves correct the international connection to the Haitian network was back up within 3 days and connections in Port-au-prince were back up within 5. My impression was that the mobile network was about the only thing that had been restored quickly.

7. Posted by mj 14th February, 2010 at 2:58 pm

   I am 100% behind private individuals trying to make a difference. In my family we helped every way I could with the Belfast4Haiti effort – registered domain, provided web space, IT support, ran the 5K, got our own sponsorship package together, attended the all day gig and spent a lot of money at the bar and into the charity buckets (and everything, even bar takings were donated).

   The wake of the New Orleans disaster in 2005 showed that WiFi was a viable communications medium in the wake of expensive telecoms infrastructure that had by and large failed. While I agree that WiFi may not be the preferable solution, the man hours of healthy educated private individuals cannot be put down based on some non-experts who freely admit their own lack of experience in disaster zones.

   Telecoms infrastructure is top of the list in a disaster zone. This is for the same reasons that the Internet in Africa consists of SMS messages forwarded and broadcast. While WiFi may not be the ideal choice, the equipment is small and portable. Smartphones with WIFI are a good choice because they can use land lines for backhaul, GSM comms where the network is up and provide the most versatile way to get the story out.

   I’m pretty disappointed in the response from the Irish clique on this. The irish have a reputation for being charitable. The question should be why more skilled, healthy and educated people are not going out to help boil water, dish out food, establish a communications infrastructure, help rebuild housing, bury bodies, sand-bag rivers. I don’t think for a second the plan is to put up a WiFi network and then sit and enjoy the sun – which seems to be the basic accusation here.

   I don’t understand this need to attach this to an ‘established NGO’ when any “non-governmental organisation” could do the same. If anything, considering the outcries against your own government, an ‘established’ one is little more than a drain on the taxpayer. The private individuals here could attempt to help in a positive fashion, they could join the effort to help make better use of it (in their eyes) and they could be positive about the effort in many ways.

   If you’re not going to help – that’s fine. But this is a lynch mob made up of the popular blogerati in the Irish clique. And that’s kinda disgusting.

8. Posted by Evert Bopp 14th February, 2010 at 3:12 pm

   Pat, I fully agree with you. The “Haiti Connect” that you describe above sounds like a really stupid idea.
   The problem is however that your post is full of inconsistencies and lacks factual information.
   For clarity I will address each point individually.

   1) The quote from the landing page:
   

   “The local telecommunications company reports severe damages to its network, and cellular companies are struggling to expand their networks for the increase in cell usage”

   This was put up days after the earthquake at what point this was true. Digicel was deperately trying to fly in engineers and equipment in an attempt to restore their network. Cisco & other hardware providers were sending in tons of equipment and it was “all hands on deck” to restore the network. So obviously the network was down at the point that we put that quote on our landing page. We should have maybe updated it since but “unfortunately” we were all too busy to get our relief effort organised to check every bit of the website daily.

   2)
   

   In a disaster zone GSM is always preferable to WiFi and even if this network is built it will require ongoing security costs above and beyond the ability of the group.

   Yes a GSM guy would say that However history has proven that wifi works in these types of situation (http://bit.ly/beEDcg) it has proven it’s worth and is a whole lot easier & cheaper to install & provide. As for the long term costs you have no idea what is above and beyond our means and secondly our FAQ state clearly that after 6 months we are handing the network over to a local organisation.

   3)
   

   “This “build it and they will come” attitude is the thoughts of dreamers”

   We don’t have that attitude and are actually in constant communication with people & organisations on the ground who could benefit from our services. Most, if not all, have welcomed what we want to provide and are actively assisting us. We have people on the ground since last Sunday in meetings with local law enforcement, civilian authorities, telco’s, isp’s as well as individuals. All of these have contradicted your comments that there is not need for a wifi service. We are already working our agreements with locations that need connecting and are developing our radio-plan based on this.

   4)
   

   the list of goods “required” is beyond the bounds of any normal project in fairness, usually engineers bring their own mobile phones and their own laptops

   Our FAQ clearly answers that question. We are asking a lot from our volunteers to go out to Haiti and provide their time, knowledge & expertise for free. Hence the least we could do is provide them with the tools to carry out the job. Also how much experience have you got with “normal projects”?

   5)
   

   As for the “team” well some are “well meaning” individuals and some maybe qualified but I am waiting for the Late Late Show appearance on return to be honest.

   Surprisingly enough you hardly know anyone on the team but that didn’t stop you from making a personal attack. Something that you stated at the start of your post you wouldn’t be doing. Our team of volunteers is made up of more than just the people you know. We have volunteers from 9 different countries with a vast wealth of expertise and knowledge. The majority also have experience working in disaster areas or building networks in hostile environments.

   6)
   

   People in Haiti need help, their number one need is water purification followed by a stable electricity network, wifi is so far down the line its not even funny but hey if publicity is needed anywhere will do.

   Another personal attack? But did you not say you weren’t doing those? Anyway, we are not water purification specialists or electricians so we can’t help in that area. What we do bring is expertise in a different field something that we know is needed from communicating with people who actually live & work in Haiti (rather than someone who was only there for a few days). The publicity comment is just silly.

   7)
   

   I have now been told that 18 people are flying to Haiti next week and I think this is probably one of the most selfish trips I have ever heard off.

   I don’t know where you got that number from but there are no 18 people flying out there next week. Whoever told you that was hopelessly ill-informed. A simple call to me would have put that right.

   
   

   your profiles don’t need to include “ambulance chasers” please leave the people who have experience of working in these locations get on with their jobs

   “ambulance chasers”?! Where did that come from? The volunteer teams are made up out of people with telecoms experiece, IP/networking experience, voip experience, WISP experience, fibre optic experience, medical experience, logistics, team management etc. Most have working experience of in disaster areas or building networks in hostile environments. We’re bringing our own equipment, generator, food etc. and will look after our own accommodation. We will not depend on the support of others and will only contribute to the infra-structure.

   It is easy to critisize people who actually try to do something especially if the criticism is based on speculation rather than facts. Throwing a few bob at a charity is a nice way to help but that money on it’s own does not achieve anything. Disaster areas still need people to go out there and get their hands dirty. You do not have to agree with what Haiti Connect is doing but hey we’re not doing this for you. We are doing this to assist in the long term reconstruction of Haiti and the improved communication infra-structure will be one of the ways to hopefully educate and inform the Haitians better. I am not some tree-hugging fairy who sets out to better the world but I am convinced that Haiti Connect and it’s volunteers can make a positive contribution here and I won’t let a bunch of backseat drivers stop our efforts. In the end there is no way we will distract from the current situation.
   Nobody in Haiti Connect stands to gain from this in a material sense. Do you honestly think that I or anyone else would go to a country which has been ravaged by an earthquake with 200,000+ corpses that still need burial to better myself or to boost my ego?
   What dissappoints me most is that you who I thought was a friend would not first pick up the phone to ask me the questions you publicly state above.

   For those who want to inform themselves: http://haiti-connect.org/faq/

9. Posted by Moshe Maeir 14th February, 2010 at 3:23 pm

   I read a report today by an Israeli Lt. Col who is commander who was on site in Haiti as part of the rescue team.
   He talks exactly about how the main needs were shelter, water and sanitary issues. Since Israelis are very good at improvising, they were able to introduce some solutions that impressed the the US Army commanders with their ingenuity. That is what we need in Haiti, people who can solve the shelter, water and sanitary issues with the resources on hand and not some of these fantasies. Reminds me of Marie Antoinette

10. Posted by Molly 14th February, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    Evert Bopp

    How many tents and how much plastic sheeting are you bringing? The people I saw crying in Haiti (on TV) were not crying for technology. They needed shelter and water for their kids. And somewhere to mourn their dead in private.

11. Posted by James Cotter 14th February, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    In reference to Peter Tanham’s comment,I also read that the mobile network was up and running within 3 days. It seems to be one of the first things to have become operational again.

    Fool hardy and poorly researched is the only way I can think to describe the Haiti Connect venture.

    First of all it would seem that a large organisation,called NetHope,with plenty of money,equipment and experience in disaster zones arrived in Port au Prince on the 19th of January and has already established a wirelss network there. Please look at the following link: http://www.nethope.org/haiti/

    So it would appear that what Haiti-Connect is setting out to do has already been done almost a month ago. You would think given the massive undertaking they are planning they would have checked this out first,rather than going off half cocked.

    Whether the wireless network is of any real benefit there or not, I won’t comment on. I will let those who are qualified to comment on that. I’m a medical student (final year) and the first thing I thought of when I read about Haiti Connect was VACCINATIONS!

    Vaccination requirements for Haiti were stringent enough before the earthquake,but now in the aftermath of this natural disaster they are even more so.
    The following vaccines are strongly recommended for Aid workers of any kind in Haiti : Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Polio, Typhoid, Tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis, Rabies and MMR (granted all of the Haiti-Connect team probably have this last one)

    All people travelling there should also bring the following : Malaria prophylaxis (either chloroquine, Lariam, Malarone, or doxycycline). And Loperamide (Imodium) or diphenoxylate (Lomotil) (in case of diarrhea)

    You need to go about getting the vaccinations 4-8 weeks (depending on the vaccine) prior to departure.

    Did you consider this Evert??

    I don’t want to have a go at you. I’m making a serious point here. All the people working for Medicin Sans Frontiers,the other Aid agencies in Haiti and troops that are there have these vaccinations and have them regularly updated because they are continuously working in enviroments like Haiti and need to be able to go to these places at short notice.

    Will you and your team be granted access to the country without proof of having had the required vaccinations?

    Even if you were to go there without vaccinations and take your chances then its guaranteed you and your team will fall ill,perhaps seriously so and that will require a doctor,whose time and energy could be better employed looking after Haitians. With the best will in the world Evert I think you will end up getting in the way.

    Inexperienced,unprepared yet well meaning people flocking to the site of a disaster will only serve to hinder the efforts of the professionals who have years of experience in this sort of thing. That is the reason why in answer to MJ’s comment why more “skilled, healthy and educated people are not going out to help boil water, dish out food, establish a communications infrastructure, help rebuild housing, bury bodies, sand-bag rivers.” are not and should not be going to Haiti to “help out”!

    When things are less critical then there will a role for civilian (for want of a better word) volunteers who want to go to Haiti and lend a hand and share the skills they have. But now is not that time,now is the time to raise money and awareness and donate to organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières (http://www.msf.org/) and to leave the professionals do their job.

12. Posted by Louise 14th February, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Hi there, I too have a lot of reservations about this project.

    I have already put some questions to Evert on his website about Haiti Connect. Specifically about who looks after the equipment in the medium-term, about security and about why he’s going out there when Telecoms sans Frontieres and others already on the ground. And they’re very experienced. He replied (can’t find it now) that they’ve been in touch with TSF and that they’ve already laid plans for maintaining the equipment they’re bringing.

    But that doesn’t explain how Haiti Connect’s services are different to TSF and why I or you or anyone else should support Haiti Connect instead of TSF – what’s the added value, if you like, what gap will it fill that no other organisation is providing.

    I work a bit in the business of humanitarian aid and know about its challenges. At the moment, one of the big challenges in PaP is the number of small NGOs on the ground which are not active – due to logistics, security, inexperience, whatever, they attend the meetings but they’re not able to get out and do what they were sent to Haiti to do.

    It was a lesson learnt from the tsunami – don’t go to help in person, send your money to the big emergency organisations and don’t block logistics that are urgently needed to deliver food aid, shelter etc. And Haiti is logistically way more challenging that any tsunami-affected areas so it’s a serious business, to clog up logistics or security at this point. And yes, most of the NGOs have had their wireless sorted by now – there’s no need to start up a parallel initiative for them.

    It’s naive to expect, as Evert writes, that local government can benefit from access to wifi. Yes, in an ideal world, it’d be great. But Haiti has almost no functioning civil service and with the rains coming soon, to be followed by the hurricane season in just a few months, right now shelter is a huge, overwhelming priority in Haiti.

    But I don’t agree that this is an ego trip. It’s very common for people to really want to help when they see suffering. It’s normal to want to improve the lives of people who have suffered horrible losses.

    But what is frustrating is that we’ve already got the lessons learnt from 2004 in Asia – well-meaning initiatives may make you feel better but they won’t necessarily make the people in need any better off and in fact they can impede the more experienced organisations from doing their jobs in emergencies.

    So Evert should do as proposed on the FAQ page, there is a commitment to donate all equipment to Inveneo (already on the ground) if the Haiti Connect team don’t get there. Do it instead of sending out a Haiti Connect team and spending funds on air tickets and other expenses.

    And then maybe in the medium term, after the hurricane season, set up a Haiti Connect capacity-building programme which can train local engineers as well as provide some equipment – that’ll make for a much more sustainable impact. Louise

13. Posted by Tim Nelligan 14th February, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    I don’t know much about Haiti; I’ve never been there. From what I have seen since the earthquake, though, it is incomprehensible to me that anyone would suggest going there in the current circumstances might be for “personal gain”, or “egotistical reasons”.

    I would be scared to go – even if I believed that I could help, which I don’t. (Heck, even the potential side-effects of the vaccinations would put me off!)

    So, having established that I am a complete “wimp”, when it comes to disaster, disease, etc., please allow me to make one point about the negativity towards Haiti Connect and the personal vitriol aimed at volunteers:

    It is very easy to post a comment on a blog, including ad hominem attacks, without supplying your full name. When you do not identify yourself, you are not accepting responsibility for your words. If you genuinely believe in what you are saying, come out of the shadows, identify yourself and be accountable for your statements. If not, I may get to wondering if I am not the only “wimp” around.

    There is nothing easy or fun about going to Haiti right now, I think. I admire those who are willing to go.

14. Posted by Jackie Danicki 14th February, 2010 at 4:49 pm

    Pat, do you remember me forwarding you information re Inveneo a few days after the earthquake? That’s the organization mentioned above by Louise. They exist to do this kind of work in these very unique environments of disaster in the third world. They’re a well-oiled machine of seasoned experts who have logged years of experience in these situations. I know Kristin, Inveneo’s founder who has been doggedly raising awareness and funds for such projects for, for years. I support them financially and in spirit.

    I would think it terribly naive of anyone who
    announces that they are off to a very high profile disaster area not to expect that many would look upon their trip as tragedy tourism. Like it or not (I don’t), plenty of people DO pitch up to these situations for the main goal of self-glorification. The danger isn’t a deterrent at all – it makes
    them thrill to the thought of how brave and selfless they will look. Such narcissistic behavior is well documented and commented upon, so I would have imagined that the organizers of Haiti Connect would have anticipated the criticism – especially as their plan is not focused on immediate survival needs and the people headed there do not have the experience that makes NGO workers so adept at making efficient, cost-effective progress in such environments. Standing in a warehouse in Ireland for hours, sorting donations of plastic sheeting – well, it’s not work that’s Twitpic-friendly, but it would be hugely helpful.

    Look, it’s too easy to feign shock and sadness when people question the sense of such a plan. But even the likes of native Haitian Wyclef Jean have been examined and criticized (rightly so) for raising funds they are not equipped to get into Haiti quickly. Most smaller NGOs with little to no experience on the ground in Haiti are funneling the donations they receive to organizations which do – the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Telecomms Without Borders. Suggesting that this is the right thing to do is not a personal attack.

15. Posted by Gary Pigott 14th February, 2010 at 4:50 pm

    Evert, the question that has to be asked is why? Is the intention to enable native Haitians and relief workers communicate? This is a country where the majority of the population exist on less than $2 a day. Do you think these people will have MacBooks and iPhones and will use Skype & Facebook to communicate? No, they’re going to use their cheap GSM phones and make cheap phone calls.

    GSM is a technology that is in universal use in Haiti *today*. There are commercial operators in country *today*, that already have used their cash resources to recover from the earthquake damage. Wi-Fi is a compelling technology but it requires most users to acquire expensive technology to use, and delivers minimal immediate benefits over and above the “good enough” GSM infrastructure.

    Why not fundraise to get more handsets into Haitian hands? Why not petition Digicel to make their network available for free for a while, or accept international donations to pay their bills?

16. Posted by mark o mahony 14th February, 2010 at 5:58 pm

    As well intentioned as this effort is, I cant help thinking that fundraising and sending the money out to already known organisations would help more effectively and quickly. Maybe they could go about setting up wi-fi networks around the schools in this country, give laptops and internet capable phones to them aswell, and show the government how it can be used to educate our own. Wi-fi should be used to drag our own country into the 21st century. Basic supplies and cash donations are whats needed to drag Haiti out of the tragic circumstances it finds itself in.

17. Posted by David Quaid 14th February, 2010 at 6:37 pm

    I’ve thought the idea was dangerous, redundant and a distraction from the real work that needs to go on in Haiti.

    A lot of good intent isn’t enough to rebuild a country – that primarily needs food, water and medical assistance.

    Discussing, debating and possibly disagreeing with “Haiti Connect” is not the same thing as being uncharitable. I dont see Haiti Connect working – therefore I don’t see it as a viable charity.

    To question something the doesn’t make sense seems like a logical part of living in a democracy. To suggest that because a charity has been setup and it therefore must be good because it is a charitable and therefore noble organisation is just beyond logic and I’m surprised at this attitude.

    What about all the religious and “charitable” institutions of Ireland’s recent past – they should have been questioned as much as this should be.

18. Posted by Branedy 14th February, 2010 at 6:41 pm

    Actually this makes more sense http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-container-homes-460309

19. Posted by Keith 14th February, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    Actually, my biggest concern about this would be that Haiti is very dangerous at the moment. If people are going out there without the relevant security training & experience, they could get into a lot of trouble. Even established NGOs can’t deliver aid in some areas without military protection, and that’s something NGOs run a mile from except when it’s absolutely necessary.
    Follow @aidwkr to find out what’s happening on the ground.

20. Posted by peter donegan 14th February, 2010 at 9:30 pm

    wowee….

    Funny how easy it is to type in all the I thinks… I could be here forever if I started

    Before I go any further – could I ask those who have a personal grudge/ gripe / severe dislike to Evert to ask Pat to delete their comments so this is a balanced discussion – you know who you are.

    Then I might ask how many are signed up to travel [in any capacity to Haiti.

    So to the tidy towns comittee analagy and it seems to me option 1 is to sit at home and/ or throw in the few bob. Option 2 one does something - be that by donation of time, money or resources or one decides to make their little mark and maybe gets their mug in the local paper. I think we can all agree with this paragraph.

    That aside - I know nothing of wi-fi and telecoms. Whether it is required and nor do I really care [read til the end....] But, the reality is if ‘a person’ wants to give…. then let them. I may believe it should be done different – but there is ‘giving’ in there. As long as their not upsetting any charity on the ground over there then let them at it. It doesnt affect me or you in any way….. ? Worst thats gonna happen…. a bunch of people are gonna leave too much telecomms [?] equipment in another country…

    The funny thing about all of this in Evert’s case, unfortunately, as I said is that some just dont like the man… and whether the lads get pr or win a free plane or the medal of honour – whether I agree, disagree or neither on how it should be done and what is being done – he certainly has raised my awareness of whats happening over there – if nothing else.

    Happy Valentines

21. Posted by Des 15th February, 2010 at 12:15 am

    I don’t know Evert from Adam. I don’t know Pat Phelan from Adam.

    I don’t ascribe personal motives to this mobilisation. Then again I don’t have a problem with folk questioning it.

    When I saw it my initial thoughts were that techie folk were throwing a techie solution at a problem. It was done out of a desire to help using the tools that the helpers were familiar with.

    My gut feeling is that – right now – Haiti needs more than WiFi. When things have stabilised and everyone is housed etc then there’s the time to add infrastructural icing to the cake.

    Problem is that in a couple of months time will it be possible to secure donations for Haitian WiFi or will there be a new cause ?

22. Posted by Robin Blandford 15th February, 2010 at 11:51 am

    I disagree with a team going out there (even if bringing food or tarps) who have never been to a disaster area before. It should take regular training, bonding, working “as a team” to survive out there alone – before you even get into the technical skills you bring.

    It will take a group half of their daylight hours to feed, find and purify water, cook, clean, plan, secure, procure. Give it 5 days in the dust for people not used to this environment when everyone is getting tired a cranky, no command structure, no bigger picture – someone will need to get home for something urgent or someone will get ill – and people will question what they’re doing there.

    At this point, a bonded trained experienced team will lean-forward and push through. An inexperienced team will self combust.

    My advice to the group (note: when I was asked, rather than given), was they should start collating this kit, and start training NOW, for the NEXT earthquake – there will be one! In less than 12 months we’ll see a similar disaster somewhere in the world and they can be ready and effective on-call to move in there as a team…

    …having set up their network at home 10 times first, working out any kinks. Maybe using the Civil Defence or Dublin Fire Brigade disaster training sites.

    …having used their ‘high-ropes gear’ (which as an instructor – I would note has some SERIOUS holes in their kit list, lads – helmets and fall-protection devices!)

    …having spent a week under canvas somewhere remote AS A TEAM.

    …having sent 2 members out to Haiti or another disaster zone with one of the other Networking Charities (there are many) to see what challenges they faced.

    Unfortunately rather than being brought on-side, my advice and any questioning was shot down from on high without listening – every point I made was countered with an argument. So, I gave up.

    Summary: I firmly believe volunteering is a great thing. I think they have great intentions and what they’re doing and could be really useful to responders out there. Just not this time…… next time maybe.

23. Posted by Roger Galligan 15th February, 2010 at 12:01 pm

    The Haiti effort is co-ordinated by
    UN Ocha Haiti site where they post situation reports showing what the most pressing needs are.

    WFP are pretty good these days in having plenty of food supplies and blankets and from this report they have plenty of stock of same. It’s amazing how all that stock of goods sits in WFP warehouses just kilometres away from the camps while NGOs compete for camp management.

    Usually the biggest issue is water and sanitation. The biggest effort should probably be in manufacture of cement (ideally strengthened with iron rods) latrine foot plates (once appropriate fields have been chosen taking water table/flooding into account and IDP’s have been relocated where possible etc.).

    The reality is that each of the major camps in Haiti could have 15+ aid agencies pitching in with their proposals, competing to provide water and sanitation to the minimum standards as set out in the Sphere Handbook. Sometimes the no. of agencies creates delays as it takes a while to divide camp management amongst them.

    Almost certainly wifi is not the most needed thing – but so long as it is not cannibalising other resources (which I don’t think it is doing to any great extent) then I don’t see any major harm in it.

    The biggest hero’s in these disasters tend to be the host communities, the people unaffected by the calamity, who take in the neighbours who are affected and look after them. Nearly always underestimated by the international community.

24. Posted by Roger Galligan 15th February, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Relief Web is the central information repository for aid agencies with good info on what’s happening.

    In the longer term people are going to need to get back working so that they can restore family incomes and it would seem logical that there is a major construction effort funded internationally. Also schools will need to be rebuilt so that kids are back learning and off the streets.

    In relation to the communications I think there is scope for a better method of disaster reporting. Twitter has proven useful but can seize up and/or get cluttered when something really major happens. Quick information is vital for the people who get caught under rubble or are badly wounded. There is scope for a twitter-like site for eye-witness reports (and not for general comments) with major redundancy (bandwidth/servers) for spikes in traffic which would distil all first hand accounts for events such as Mumbai, Plane-on-the-hudson, Tehran and Haiti. Possible scope for P2P or database replication/distribution as amount of data would not be large but the traffic could be great. That would be one project I’d like to see those technical minds put to work on. Of course you do need gsm or wifi to get the reports out – so maybe an mobile emergency gsm/wifi/wimax could be envisaged as part of the project. Earthquakes/flooding disasters happen quite frequently and I think more could be done in the first few critical hours to save lives – for many the arrival of resources a week later is too late.

25. Posted by Molly 15th February, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    “Mumbai, Plane-on-the-hudson, Tehran and Haiti”– Roger Galligan

    Strange choices.

    Mumbai and Plane on the Hudson (??) were being reported within minutes. I watched the special forces going in in Mumbai. Tehran wasn’t a natural disaster either (stoked by $473 million per annum in covert/black ops by the USA) and some tweets supposedly from Tehran were coming from Israelis. They were accurately traced later, but were entirely untrustworthy on Twitter. Stories on Twitter can’t be trusted unless one personally knows the ‘Tweeps’.

    Banda Aceh is what comes to mind, along with Haiti.

    “for many the arrival of resources a week later is too late”

    but in Haiti that wasn’t due to lack of information. It was the operation of the airport that slowed everything down.

    By the way, I don’t know Evert from Adam. I don’t know Pat Phelan from Adam. I don’t know Des either. Or any other commenter here. So much for Peter Donegan’s comments.

26. Posted by Alexia Golez 15th February, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    Egos aside, Peter, if you don’t know shit about wifi, why the hell comment?

    Reports from experienced rescue workers say that priorities for aid and help should be sanitation, water supply and food. People are living outside without the basics of life.

    Wifi will be appreciated by people that die from dysentry, cholera and other sicknesses caused by poor sanitation. They’ll thank the people that donate.

    Let’s think of the children..

27. Posted by Roger Galligan 15th February, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    @molly I just selected those events where real-time reports are emanating and where twitter seems to be tool of choice but it isn’t designed for that purpose…perhaps there’s a better way.

    I agree on the problems at airport being a major issue…my general comments were that after a week or two the UN and WFP tend to be reasonably good at getting supplies of food, plastic sheeting etc and after 3 weeks the aid agencies are in competition to provide services. I think there is still a weakness in the first hours. The “global fire brigade” system needs to work better – perhaps scope for military-style speed of response with internationally pre-agreed protocols for operation of airports / customs. There does seem to be room to improve the dissemination of information on what the problems are, their extent, and their precise location. If that time for that information to be assimilated can be cut in half lives could be saved. I’ve been in an emergency situation where each NGO is sending out scouts looking for clusters of malnourished IDP’s – there seemed to be huge duplication in effort to collect the information with no open central repository to share the reports. Is there scope for something like a Microblog/Wikimapia mashup for emergencies with input from those on the ground.

28. Posted by Michele 15th February, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    @Roger – um ok, but surely getting basics like water and stuff would be a slightly higher priority? According to any of the reports I’ve read about Haiti the situation there is dire. I somehow doubt if most of the residents know or care too much about wifi

    Michele

29. Posted by peter donegan 15th February, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    Alexia,

    well there’s something I’m not used to…. but you are absolutely 110% correct. Why the hell should I comment on a blog post about haiti…. but as you said ego’s aside eh.

    [as I said previous] whether I agree or not They’re sure doing more than you or I am…. ?

    hope you’re doing well… been a while since we spoke

    beir bua
    peter

30. Posted by Ronan Morris 15th February, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    I’ve been following this thread with interest over the last day or so. I do not personally know any of the protagonists.

    My thoughts are as follows:
    1. Evert and his team are being unfairly criticised in terms of their motives. It is a HUGE assumption and an unfair one to suggest that just because the mission may be ill thought out that the team are therefore glory hunters, ego maniacs etc.
    2. Robin Blandford is a highly respected rescue expert. His comment is damning in that his advice, once sought, was ignored.
    3. Even to the casual observer there would at least appear to be enough evidence to cast at least some doubt on the merits of this mission. Whatever it’s motives.
    4. The organising committee appear overly defensive in their replies to the various concerns that seem to be legitimate. This is probably not helping their cause
    5. Connected to that is the also unfair assumption that just because an undertaking is *charitable* that somehow it should be above criticism. Arguably, it should be subject to greater scrutiny given what’s at stake. And this is something that we should consider when assessing all charitable efforts. (More so than we currently do)

    I don’t expect this to happen but I think the organising team should give the project another rethink before heading out to Haiti. They have a moral obligation to their donors to do the right thing with their funds. There would be no shame is stepping back even at this late stage on the basis of preparing for the next earthquake, per Robin Blandford’s suggestion.

    The one downside of the vitriol in some of the criticism is that the team probably now feel like they have painted into a corner and that a successful mission is the only way to silence the critics.

31. Posted by kate bopp 15th February, 2010 at 3:29 pm

    Practically every comment here is based on the ridiculous assumption that Haiti Connect are proposing wifi *instead* of front line relief. The team of *experienced experts (with all vaccines, sorry medical person, but that they haven’t had vaccines, was the most infantile assumption yet) will enable the further distribution of aid more accurately & efficiently*. It is needed & this has been confirmed *by people who are there*. Why dont you actually see the reality & dont let your begrudgery undermine a group of 30 extraordinary people who have valuable contribution to make

32. Posted by Roger Galligan 15th February, 2010 at 4:49 pm

    @Michele
    “but surely getting basics like water and stuff would be a slightly higher priority?”

    Yes, I agree and said as much that in my earlier comment (it can be difficult to keep track of all the comments). Water and sanitation are the most important right now. Specifically building latrines is probably the most important thing to prevent water contamination. (I was involved logistics side of things in sourcing materials (cement etc.) for latrines in Sudan back in 2004). They’ll have to look at the water table of fields that IDP’s are in to avoid contamination and also the possibility of mud slides and try to move people to better locations if possible.

    The other effort required is in the area of logistics – managing the distribution of Non Food Items such as tarpaulins. It seems from this that there are plenty in the country which haven’t been distributed yet.

    I think there’s a huge gap between what joe public understands how relief effort (and development) works and how it actually works. This gap is partially re-inforced by the marketing departments of NGO’s who sometimes push images of helpless people dependent on hand-outs in order to appeal to the emotions and maximise donations.

    My later comment was just a separate idea I had in relation to the flows of information in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event. I really should get my own blog!

33. Posted by James Cotter 15th February, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    @Kate Bopp

    Most infantile of assumptions ??

    First of all it wasn’t an assumption,it was a genuine question,and it was one of the first things that occurred to me.

    Do you know anything about vaccinations or the time it takes for the various different vaccinations?

    The arrogance and ignorance of your comment suggests you don’t.

    For your information:
    For Hepatitis B:

    A course of three vaccine injections are given with the second injection at least one month after the first dose and the third injection given six months after the first dose. And that’s not to mention the subsequent testing for Hep B antibodies that needs to be performed 1-4 months after the 3 primary vaccinations have been given.

    So did the team anticipate a natural disaster 6 months ago and start vaccinations pre-emptively? Either that or you are bluffing!

    If not I presume you are not planning to go to Haiti for at least another 6 months?

    I was talking to Evert earlier on twitter and he told me the team started vaccinations 4 weeks ago and that all vaccinations were or would be in order. I was somewhat dubious about that as i know the timescale involved in the vaccination against Hep B,but I let it slide as despite the fact I think Haiti-Connect is ill conceived I find the ideology behind it laudable. But if you want to take the line you have taken with me,then I don’t see any need not to point out the mistakes in your rhetoric!

    I don’t talk about things to do with wi-fi or telecommunications as I don’t understand them,may I suggest that you also don’t talk about things you obviously know nothing about!

34. Posted by Darren 15th February, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    Pat

    I have to fully agree with yours and indeed most others point of view on this matter the Haitian people are in desperate need of many things but having been there on a number of occasions personally a WiFi network certainly isn’t one of them and never was!!

    There are a number of international aid agencies and government/military services on the ground in Haiti that have access to communication infrastructures far beyond anything that is being proposed by Haiti Connect and I’m amazed personally that the person behind this project can honestly believe anyone would believe his motives are for anything but personal recognition being the attempted media wannabe he is.

    Darren

35. Posted by Roger Galligan 15th February, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    Just to clarify….while I think water and sanitation is most important right now it doesn’t automatically mean other efforts are wrong.

    I’d also be very slow to question their motivation and am a little surprised at the jibes on this. I think 30 people will return all the wiser and will have a better insight into emergency relief effort and ideas for the next time. I think they’ll get more out of it than they put in, but that is always the case with emergency relief – it is intrinsically rewarding. Good luck to them!

36. Posted by David 15th February, 2010 at 5:48 pm

    I’ve been reading this with extreme disappointment, teeth on tongue, so I’m needing to comment.

    I know both @evertb and @patphelan through Twitter and, in each case, one phone conversatio – unrelated.

    I have contributed to Haiti-Connect, as well as half a dozen other initiatives to support Haiti.

    Evert and his team want to DO something. I respect that. I not going to, nor am I in a position to, judge whether it will be 100% sucessful, but if it moves the needle only a notch, it’s still better that this Monday morning quarterbacking.

    It’s much harder to create than criticize – let’s give him some support.

    /d

37. Posted by Reggie 15th February, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    I have contributed to Haiti-Connect and other relief efforts like Feed the Children that will provide not only the basic necessities of food,shelter and water to Haiti because I believe that the whole man need serving to. When I say whole man, I emphasize, the need for not only physical needs but mental needs that tings like WiFi can provide in education over the internet. Haitians need mental stimulation too. After your belly is full and you have rested for a night in a bed that is covered with a roof that protects you from the elements of the sun and the rain you need some sort of mental outlet like the Internet access. If tis team can provide what they propose , think of the advancements. I am sure they will be able to carry drinkable water with them in the establishment of wireless hotspots too. I spent 20 plus years in the US Army as a Satellite/Microwave Communications Tech and provided these types of services to our troops on the ground for moral support. After the Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and a good night sleep, you welcome a chance to phone home. With things like Skype/Google Voice/Ebooks etc. WiFi is a way to bring civility and education to the masses.

38. Posted by Anonymous 15th February, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    For me, these three points, made by Robin, sum up the reasons that this argument continues to spiral away from the main points & descend into what often feels like witnessing a gang fight in a pub!

    “1. Evert and his team are being unfairly criticised in terms of their motives. It is a HUGE assumption and an unfair one to suggest that just because the mission may be ill thought out that the team are therefore glory hunters, ego maniacs etc.”

    “3. Even to the casual observer there would at least appear to be enough evidence to cast at least some doubt on the merits of this mission. Whatever it’s motives.”

    “4. The organising committee appears overly defensive in their replies to the various concerns that seem to be legitimate. This is probably not helping their cause”

    So, to stick in my tuppence worth, my thoughts in relation to the above:

    Do I think Evert and his team are “glory hunters, ego maniacs etc”? No, probably not. I like to think that the original idea was borne out of a genuine compulsion to help.

    Do I think the mission is flawed? I have to say yes. Intent is undoubtedly there and I would give the whole team the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s for the right reason. But to my mind, the timing is out of whack. Egos aside, I don’t think you have to be an expert in Wifi to see that more basic needs addressing first. But that’s not to say that such a mission wouldn’t necessarily have value at a more appropriate time.

    Are the team behind it overly defensive? Absolutely. I can understand why they would be a little touchy in the face of what seems to be a case of playing the player & not the ball. But fighting any queries with aggression, and what seems to me to be somewhat limited transparency at times, will only attract further negativity. Listen to people’s concerns, try to understand where they’re coming from (which for the most part is not from personal grudges, but a genuine desire to know more about the project) and try to calmly answer those concerns. Then you’ll probably find people more willing to get behind the whole Haiti Connect scheme. Like it or not, you’re asking for people’s money, so it IS your duty to reassure them that’s is going where it’s needed – it’s not like Oxfam, Trocaire, Cancer Research aren’t constantly having to do the same. You don’t see them calling people who ask questions ill-informed or ignorant.

39. Posted by Dena Walker 15th February, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    Oops – “Anonymous” above was me. Forgot to fill out the form – doh!

    But now you know. I have unveiled myself from beneath my shroud of mystery. In the name of transparency & all!

40. Posted by Kevin 15th February, 2010 at 7:18 pm

    I’m not going to comment on the specific debate going on because, frankly, it’s pathetic.

    I’ve no major opinion of Evert, or his team. I do commend anyone going to Haiti to do ANYTHING to help.

    However, most of the arguments here seem to be about the need for PR and the boosting of ego’s. Thus far, I haven’t really seen that innate desire to get free press. All the people with such an opinion: Do you say the same thing about the “One Laptop Per Child” (OLXC) people? Considering they’ve send laptops to African children who can barely read…? Is the plan to give those kids laptops, education and access to all the information in the world via the internet ridiculous when they don’t have proper drinking water or food?

    Keep in mind, if 30 Irish people went over to try and fix water, shelter and other such things there’s a greater chance of screwing up ongoing relief efforts. The worst thing in disaster areas is when too many people try to do the same thing, and just get in each others way.

    If Evert and his crew think they can help by providing internet access to locals to receive and send information to the world, then I commend them. If they come back and go straight to the press and try to get personal gain from it – then have this debate. But for now, stop the petty begrudging of what, at least now, looks like a genuine attempt to help.

41. Posted by Michele 15th February, 2010 at 9:01 pm

    @Roger – didn’t you have a blog already?

42. Posted by Charles 15th February, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    http://hollywood2020.blogs.com/hollywood2020/2010/01/statistics-for-haiti-on-internet-mobile-phone-access-.html

    11% of them had the Internet even before the earthquake and what they need is wifi?

43. Posted by John Kennedy 15th February, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    I enter this debate as someone who operates a rural Wireless ISP in Limerick Ireland covering an area of approx. 2,500 square kilometres, and can claim a little expertise in this area.

    I have built this network in a first world environment… I know, I know, to describe Ireland’s telecom infrastructure as first world is pushing it a bit, but, how and ever, it is a challenging undertaking at the best of times, requiring constant monitoring and maintenance.

    With the considerable experience I have, I would not consider myself remotely qualified to attempt to build a similar type network in a severely ravaged third world country like Haiti.

    I have known Evert Bopp since 2002, Evert had an IT company in Ennis at the time, we first met through an organisation called IrishWan where a group of IT/Ham Radio enthusiasts were attempting to build a hobbyist wireless network throughout Ireland, we built a number of networks throughout the country and utilising the knowledge acquired many of the people involved went on to set up many of the rural Wireless ISP’s that operate today, I remember Evert attending some meetings, but I have no recall, nor, do any of the others I have spoken to, of him ever contributing any expertise, hardware or labour to any of these projects, but we could be mistaken.

    He left Ireland around that time and went to Belgium/Holland where we lost touch until about 3 years ago, what business he was involved in while there I have no idea, but, he claims he was involved in Wireless network deployments, I have no evidence to the contrary.

    We renewed our acquaintance through Open Coffee Limerick a network of entrepreneurs, academics and technologists who meet on a monthly basis to encourage and support one another and generally “bat the breeze” in an informal setting.

    Evert has spoken of a number of projects he is involved in, including WiFi projects, but to date, I, nor any of my peers, have any knowledge of any of these projects coming to fruition, works in progress, so to speak.

    Evert contacted me when he first dreamt up this hair-brained scheme, and I make no apology for calling it so, I responded to his blog post to the effect that the last thing the people of Haiti needed was a bunch of “well meaning amateurs” flapping around the place at this time, and suggested he channel his efforts to the likes of Telecom san Frontier who already had a presence on the ground.

    I have followed Haiti-Connect with interest since, to see how it is progressing, I was particularly interested in the hardware requirements for the project, without boring anyone with tech speak, the initial specification, now since modified, displays a total lack of knowledge of the hardware requirements for such an undertaking, indeed it reads like a “Toys for the Boys” wish list and nothing more, and, goes to demonstrate these “well meaning amateurs” lack of technical expertise in this area, remember, just because you assembled an IKEA flat pack, does’nt make you a master cabinetmaker.

    The much touted “team”, I only know of two members of the team, and, quite frankly, with all due respect to these people, I wonder what expertise they have to offer this venture.

    In conclusion, Evert, it is not too late to rescue something useful from this ill conceived venture by supporting those with the necessary expertise, and presence, in Haiti

44. Posted by christyler 30th May, 2011 at 8:27 am

    well it’s been nearly a year now since i traveled to Haiti with Evert Bopp, and i still havent got the money back that he ripped me off for. I went as a volenteer wireless network engineer, only to find that i was the “only one” there was no planning, the equipment was totally wrong for the job and evert was trying to run the show with no money at all, he got me to pay all the bills on the promiss that i would be reimbursed when we returned to Ireland, it never happened. I am sick of asking him for the money, now he wont return my calls or mails. If you want to know what really happened in Haiti, ask me. christyler@eircom.net

45. Posted by christyler 21st June, 2011 at 7:11 am

    Update:

    I have now been in touch with Mr Bopp and we are on the way to an agreement to end this dispute all going well i should be able to report by the end of the week that it is finally sorted out. Watch this Space !

46. Posted by christyler 25th June, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    UPDATE:24/06/2011

    Well finally after a year and a half I met Evert Bopp yesterday; he gave me some wireless equipment in lieu of the money I was owed. I am now happy that neither Haiti Connect nor Evert Bopp owe me anything else and the debt has been settled in full. It’s a shame this couldn’t have been done all that time ago and it’s also a shame that I had to provoke a response from Evert Bopp by posting on various web sites, to get this settled.

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