We are steadily progressing with the preparation for going to Haiti. A week into this and a plan is slowly but steadily taking shape. Off course we realise that we’re dealing with a very fluid situation on the ground with the infra-structure in bits and 101 NGO’s, governments agencies and other relief efforts running around. This might mean that we have to chuck away our plans completely when we get on the ground but as the saying goes: "Fail to plan is plan to fail"…

For the last week I have been concentrating on 3 points: team, equipment & transport. Feedback has been amazing, we now have 10-15 volunteers with skills ranging from fibre-techs, wifi-techs, network engineers to a team manager, cook, FD EMT and a "facilitator". We also have secured a forward staging area in Florida complete with (internet connected trailer) and air-transport from Florida to Haiti. Negotiations are ongoing to secure the required networking hardware. We need outdoor access-points, wireless repeaters, routers, switches, antennas, mounting hardware, cat-5 cables, crimp tools etc. etc. If you want to donate any of this please contact us! In addition we urgently need donations for camping equipment. Have a look here for the full list.

One thing I have not yet addressed fully is the funding needed to cover our expenses. While every volunteer is donating their time and experience (and sometimes more) free off charge we will incur expenses that need to be covered. There is such basic things such as food, water and accommodation but we also need to pay for phone-costs, insurance, vehicle rental, fuel etc. We also need to have a small slush-fund to cover any unexpected expenses and and anyone on the ground will tell you that cash is king! So please donate and help us help Haiti!


I also want to thank Kira who has been an absolutely fantastic help. Kira is helping me coordinate this initiative from the US and has been busy structuring my plans and putting all pieces I I find in to some sort of order. She can be contacted via email.

We now plan to have the first people on the ground by February 4th. The plan is to have our effort run on for a 2-3 months (or longer) and have teams rotate in and out of the country every 2 weeks. To do this we need qualified volunteers with a range off skills; these can be technical (networking, wifi/rf, fiber, vsat etc.) but we also need people with medical, logistical, team management skills. In specific I would love to get a ex-SF medic on-board as well as someone who has experience in liasing with government relief agencies (UN etc.). I am also to get a tower climber or two onto the team. If you have these skills or know someone please contact us via email.