This little boy and his blue chair. I just love this picture.
As I was walking through the village of Cange, I just happened to see this little boy. He had the giggles and was smiling at the whole Clemson team walking by. I turned and smiled and he started playing pick-a-boo with me.
Relationships are the building blocks for sustainable communities! I was so proud to watch these relationships between Clemson Engineers and the Haitian people develop over the course of the trip to Haiti. It takes more than expertise, talent, education, and skills to work alongside partners; it takes time, energy, and a listening ear. It was fun to watch how empathy provided a pathway to find solutions in Cange, Haiti! #clemsonmoments
I was raised in a family where engineering as a discipline surrounded me, my father being a Mechanical Engineer and his brothers in similar disciplines. It was almost understood that I would become an engineer. This day, this moment, I felt like I was an engineer.
Water…clean water…I do not know what it is like to walk miles upon miles for water, much less clean water. Here at one of the many water fountains in the remote village of Cange, Haiti, people gather bringing their buckets to collect water. They are coming from all over the mountain, some walking miles upon miles in both directions. Once they arrive, they fill up their buckets with water and either carry them in hand by their side, or upon their head. Some walk hundreds of steep steps up and down the mountain, carrying the water.
This is one of the most wonderful #ClemsonMoments I witnessed while traveling with Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries to the little village of Cange in Haiti. Engineering student Ashley Martin was walking down to one of the flat areas in Cange to see what the rest of the group was doing. That is when many of the village children ran up to her and grabbed her hand to walk down. The whole trip, all the children gravitated to Ashley as they used laugher and smiles to replace the language barrier. There are so many moments that have happened in my travels to make me proud of my Clemson degrees, these moments reinforce the broader reach of the Clemson spirit!