Teaching at C-Tech

Our growing technical college, Christian Institute for Technical Studies or C-tech, currently has 85 students and provides quality education in nursing and electrical engineering technology for those living in the country near Musotte and students who want to study outside Port-au-Prince. C-Tech enables students to learn a trade to support themselves and their families, build up their community, and grow in Christian faith.

At the end of May last year, Albert and Nancy Leung and I traveled from Massachusetts to C-Tech to provide enrichment training and give students hands-on experience with new technology. Albert and I both attended MIT studying electrical engineering and computer science while Nancy grew up in Haiti and was invaluable in translating between English and Creole. We wanted to make the week interesting, encourage enthusiasm in engineering, provide training in a new area, and leave behind materials and equipment to enable continuing education by C-Tech professors.

I focused on photovoltaics because of the widespread use of solar technology in Haiti. It was a pleasure to meet the four electrical engineering technology professors who were invaluable in explaining some difficult concepts to students. The students were attentive, learned fast, and were fun to work with both during teaching and hands-on learning. They had many questions about how components worked, what each piece did, and why things worked. Some had already worked with photovoltaics and had questions about why systems they worked on failed. We constructed and analyzed a small photovoltaic system and also split into small groups to analyze the existing photovoltaic system and electrical usage at C-Tech. Part of this analysis included proposing a new more efficient design.

I encourage others who have technical skills in nursing, electrical engineering, computer science, medical technology, photovoltaics, or motor and generator repair to consider providing enrichment experiences at C– tech.

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