Alum’s database offers hope to Haitians

University alum provides form of relief and means of finding information surrounding the status of those affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti

Ann Polk

Staff Writer

Haitian-born University Alum Dr. Eugene Michael Maximilien has made a profound impact on Haitian disaster relief by providing a way to find the status and whereabouts of people in Haiti.

By creating an application on Facebook called Haiti Quake People Finder, Dr. Eugene Michael Maximilien has enabled thousands of people to find, locate, and even save their own and others’ loved ones.

Haitian native and recipient of both an master’s in 2002 and doctorate in 2005 in computer science from N.C. State, Maximilien provides a paradigm of how to go about using achieved degrees for greater good.

With an estimated death toll at 200,000 to 250,000 and still rising, the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti has been called “the most destructive natural disaster in modern times” in a recent article published by the NY Times.

In the chaos following initial news reports on the disaster, the response on Facebook was almost immediate, especially in regard to statuses.  “Moments after the earthquake hit, we started seeing a response on Facebook,” Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications at Facebook, said.

“It was very organic. People were posting status messages about Haiti at about 1,500 per minute. That pace continued through yesterday [the day after the earthquake].”

Emphasizing the word “survivor” throughout, Maximilien’s application and its accompanying twitter and Google map sites allows users to keep track of the statuses of family and friends, as well as update and share information with their other friends on Facebook.

Sticking to the term “survivor” is part of the larger goal of keeping things hopeful, and the application intends to keep the database as accurate as possible. It also encourages suggestions from users on how it could be more useful.

Cited from the applications “about” section, “The main goal is to create a socially updated database of these ‘survivors’ that is as accurate as possible, considering the current limited means of communications with Haiti.” Accuracy in reports and findings is vital to the success of the application since users must be able to trust that the information posted for the application to continue its grave, yet effectual, functions. 

Going back to the site’s insistence upon calling “survivors” all but those unmistakably confirmed as dead, the application’s adjoining page has requested that updates and responses maintain an optimistic tone. ”When updating survivors and victims, if a death is not confirmed by either finding the body or identified by a family member, please list as missing in respect to their grieving family and friends,” a status update from the page said.

Maximilien has maintained contact with his friends and family still living in Haiti. It was through his friends on Facebook that the idea occurred to Maximilien for the database/application. 

With such a strong background in computer science and engineering, Maximilien believed that the best thing he could do to help the relief effort would be assisting others to communicate and collect information, according to an article published on the University’s computer science website. 

“That night, I realized most of the information I had was from Facebook friends explaining, ‘This person is fine,’ or ‘This person is trapped.’  By the next day, I had a simple application ready for release,” Maximilien said.

With various successes numbering near 900 according to the application’s posted results, the exact future impact of provided support may never be definitive.  Not only does the database provide a community of support for survivors, victims and status-unknown’s family and friends, it also offers hope. One recent status update on the application’s page voices the relief efforts and recovery’s overall theme of optimism and tenacity: “Our strength as Haitians lies in our willingness to conquer the impossible whatever the calamity, earthquake, or disaster that may strike us. We will rise again. Believe it!”