Train four builders in Haiti to build safer homes

We thought you would be interested in Duffault's story, as an engineer we trained in Haiti:

“Everything in our lives changed with the earthquake on January 12, 2010,” said Silfaut Duffault, an engineer with the Haitian Ministry of Transportation, Public Works and Communications (MTPTC). “Had we respected the building codes for constructing earthquake-resistant houses from the start, we would not have had to endure so many deaths,” he said.

“I am an engineer and my job is to train people in construction. I was not aware of the earthquake risk that hung over the country. To be honest, none of us were really prepared to face natural disasters like this. An ignorance of the looming danger from earthquakes led to homes being poorly constructed. We did not account for the effects of a seismic event when designing and building,” he sighed.

“Now it is completely different,” he continued. “We know that this danger exists and we must take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again. The earthquake reminded us that it is our duty to intervene on sites that do not meet seismic building codes. A life is worth more than losing money. As an engineer, I am the keeper of the safety of people, their property and their lives.”

Many local engineers, including Duffault, have been receiving training on earthquake-resistant design and construction from Build Change. His experience with Build Change was very positive, because he was able to learn and revisit concepts that he didn’t completely grasp.

Duffault concluded, “I’d like to see Build Change hosting as many of these training activities as possible. In my opinion, the more people who understand the work that we do, the easier our job will be. As such, the owner and engineer will be better able to collaborate, work together and respect each other.”