This is the third in a series of international dispatches from civil engineers in the North West who have worked, volunteered or travelled outside the UK. Jade Hundziak (pictured below right, mixing concrete by hand) graduated from the University of Manchester with a BEng in Civil Engineering and is now a Graduate Civil Engineer on sea outfalls and wastewater at United Utilities. She is the Engineering Your Future (EYF) co-ordinator for the North West Graduates and Students group and General Committee Member for the Manchester Branch. She plans to submit for Member Professional Review next Spring. Her International Dispatch was as a volunteer following the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. United Utilities kindly allowed a leave of absence.

1) Where was your overseas work based?

Haiti – the location of the devastating earthquake in January 2010 and cholera outbreak in October 2010. I was working firstly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and then moved to Gonaives in the west of the country.

2) What project did you work on & which company was it with?
I worked with European Disaster Volunteers (EDV), a voluntary organisation who work on community scale projects with a variety of programmes – teaching, sport, health. I was working on construction. I designed solutions to problems at schools and orphanages in the local area, procured the materials and managed the building on site. This included drainage, roofs, hardstandings, etc. I spent most of my time at Foyer d’Orelph Orphanage which was home to 10 children prior to the earthquake, and 53 afterwards. I gained an ICE QUEST Travel Award to work with EDV during this time.

For the latter half of my time I was given a position to manage a Cholera Mitigation Programme in Gonaives, with Haven Partnership, an Irish NGO. This was a voluntary position but still with all the responsibility! I established Haven in the WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) cluster in Gonaives (with local and national authorities, other NGOs and the UN), mapped the target communities and determined the projects for each community – i.e. construction and repair of wells, latrines. The programme also involved the distribution of 4000 cholera hygiene kits and education of children and adults.

3) How long did the project take and how long did you stay there?
Unfortunately I was only in Haiti for four months so I had to hand over the Cholera Mitigation Programme half-way through. I spent 6 weeks with EDV and the rest of the time with Haven.

4) How did you find the civil engineering practice overseas compared with the UK?
Due to the nature of the work, my civil engineering practice was mainly application of engineering knowledge and logic; for example in infiltration trenches and soakaways, roof drainage, inspecting concrete and construction materials.

Quality control was whole different ball game (we were mixing concrete by hand!) as was health and safety but you do the best you can.

Sustainability was challenging. Some may say that the amount of work NGOs are doing in Haiti is not sustainable in itself, but at a project level I was limited to materials such as concrete and timber. There is devastating deforestation in Haiti and I could choose my aggregate from that which was dug from a river bed during the dry season or that which was quarried where there used to be trees.

The aspect I enjoyed the most was being able to design a solution to a problem, estimate the cost, procure the necessary materials and labour, and see the project completed and in use within such a short time frame. It’s something I never get to do in the UK and it enables you to learn from your mistakes straight away! At first I doubted my skills to do these projects and there was little to no guidance, but I went in the deep end and I learned from skilled people who were also volunteering, so I soon settled into it. Research and the papers produced by Sphere were very helpful; for all projects the book Engineering in Emergencies was invaluable!

Managing the Cholera Programme was an amazing experience, and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity.

6) How was the overall experience?
It was a very challenging environment; with the limited resources, extremely hot weather and a different culture. The Haitian people are happy and welcoming but the way of doing business was something I struggled with very much! It was good for many reasons that both EDV and Haven employed local people for certain roles. Security was a major issue and I couldn’t go anywhere alone; having an armed bodyguard was part of Haven’s policy. There was very little to do in the evenings and the lack of freedom and exercise was the most difficult thing to deal with. Overall it was a great experience but very stressful at times.

7) Would you recommend taking such opportunities to the ICE graduates?
Definitely! You learn so much about your abilities and what pressures you can take. You often have a much greater level of responsibility than normal which improves your skills and forms part of your experience which changes how you work in future. Humanitarian relief work is great to be a part of and you meet lots of interesting people.


Well point near one of the Haven Partnership target communities, Latanere, Gonaives.

Latrines in Latanere, Gonaives.

Well point in Gonaives, similar to those being constructed as part of the Cholera Mitigation Programme.

Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, at Institution Classique, Port-au-Prince 

One of the classrooms with a ‘before’ roof at Foyer D’Orelph Orphanage, Port-au-Prince

One of the classrooms with completed roof at Foyer D’Orelph Orphanage, Port-au-Prince