The young woman sitting across the aisle leaned over and asked in broken English “Where are you going in Haiti?” As soon as Professor Blood replied with ‘La Victore’, a weak smile formed across her face and her eyes seemed to say ‘I understand what you will be doing in Haiti’. I realized then that this trip would be different than my previous work in Haiti, Mexico, or Nicaragua. Without internet access, I was forced to use this nifty invention called a pen and paper to record my experience in country. Here is what I wrote:   Day 1 (07/19) Ten of us piled into a minivan to start our trip from the capital, Port au Prince, to La Victore located in northern Haiti. The driver brought his whole family along for the expected 5 hour drive. Dodging weaving motorcycles and four lanes of traffic on a two lane road, […]

Many of my peers have described exploring new cities and interacting with new people. However, I have been spending the past 5 weeks inside the building I already spend so much time in, Gellersen at Valparaiso University… Seems I may never leave. But that’s alright because the University is a place that “prepares students to lead and serve in both church and society”, a perfect place to continue my journey. I search for a balance of engineering and humanitarian work, both subjects I am passionate about. While I am still waiting to see where this journey will take me, my experiences at Valpo have led me to a summer with aqUV through the CAPS program. aqUV is a new company that manufactures water bottles with UV-C lighting to kill harmful pathogens in water as seen in the picture on the left. The bottle is activated wirelessly, waterproof and can be […]