Two MIT classes focus on helping Haiti
In response to the earthquake in Haiti, MIT Media Lab students have developed a service that helps communities rebuild after a crisis by indexing the skills of local residents so that NGOs like the American Red Cross and Partners In Health can quickly find and employ them.Since January, Greg Elliott and Aaron Zinman have been developing Konbit, a free interactive communication platform that allows Haitians, their diaspora and the international community to report their skills by phone, text message or web. In anticipation of long-term rebuilding efforts, the goal of Konbit is to index everyday skills, such as language or construction skills, that aren’t currently being advertised or tracked by sites like Craigslist or Monster.Composed of several hardware and software systems, Konbit allows people from multiple countries to work together to help disaster victims find employment and rebuild their economy. It includes software for web, text, phone and translation services,...