Haitian Students Are Newest CommCare Self-Starters

Left to right: Andiello MICHEL, Richardson CIGUENE, Jacquelain CONSTANT, & Jean Waston THERANE

In the following blog post, guest author Charles Plaisimond discusses the power of training students in Haiti about new technologies. Through this work, 12 Haitian students have developed CommCare modules that will be used to support Mirebalais Hospital in Haiti.

How do you create ownership and accountability in a country deemed the “republic of NGO’s”? Political strife has long prevented Haiti from living up to its place as the second oldest republic in the western hemisphere.

By using Dimagi’s Commcare HQ platform, Civic Hire aims to impart on today’s youth a sense of ownership in realizing the dreams of their ancestors. Working to mirror projects implemented by NGOs, a group of 12 students from Ecole Superieur d’Infotronique d’Haiti are demonstrating their talents designing, pitching, and implementing modules in various hospitals. In understanding that there is space for them to apply their skills in their own country these educated citizens are less likely to seek employment abroad, mitigating brain drain.

Raising awareness of the advantages they have in understanding the nature of resource poor settings, these local students are better able to create effective applications in areas plagued by constraints such as poor literacy, access to electricity, and variance in language. Byngaging these communities in developing Commcare HQ modules, students are able to demonstrate how we can adapt technology to serve the voiceless in our society.