Technology and the Field

Here is a picture of the technology we brought with us: a HNS9201 BGAN unit, a Thinkpad T500, and two Macbook Pros, plus a variety of video and still cameras, etc. The equipment is both synodically and personally owned, etc. Especially for this disaster, the Synod's IT department has been incredibly helpful and were able to respond to our needs quickly. Special thanks to Myron Koehn and his staff!

On this trip, the fancy technology (i.e., BGAN unit etc.) proved less than helpful. Almost exclusively, both in the Dominican Republic and across the border in Haiti, we found cell phones much more helpful and reliable. It is truly amazing how one can goto a country that does not have some of the basic services people in the USA are accustomed to--like high speed Internet universially available, running water, functioning sewers, etc.--and yet we found a reliable cell phone network. In some ways, the future of Internet is connected to mobile devices (iPhones, smartphones, tablets, etc.) as some agencies have demonstrated how to receive donations via text message. Something we can learn.

We awoke under the rising of the sun, since most of our team slept outside due to the tremors yesterday. Some of our team awoke to stray dogs staring at them... As soon as one member rose from bed, four stray dogs climbed on his matress and curled up for a nap... Too bad i didn't get a photo of that.

The MMT is packing up to return to Santo Domingo this afternoon. We are waiting for Rev. Glenn Merritt and his team to return this afternoon as well.

More later.