Pacific Partnership 2012

 May 23 - August 11, 2012

Pacific Partnership is an annual mission that works with partner nations to execute a variety of humanitarian civic assistance missions in the Pacific fleet area of responsbility, from a ship dedicated to the mission. For 2012 United States Navy Ship, USNS Mercy will be leading a mission in four host countries:

  1. Indonesia (31 May - 15 June)
  2. Philippines (18 June - 01 July)
  3. Vietnam (10 July - 24 July)
  4. Cambodia (28 July - 11 August)

Two engineering students Gabriel-El Swaify and Monique Wheeler will be representing college of engineering onboard the USNS Mercy. They will board USNS Mercy in Guam on May 23 and participate in missions in all four host countries.

This interactive blog is set up for Gabe and Monique to provide a first hand account of the activities and projects they will be involved in while aboard the USNS Mercy and while working on ground in the host countries. They invite teachers, faculty and friends to join their blog. Link: (http://www.sip-hawaii.org/node/2374/discussion)

Let's introduce Gabe and Monique.


Hi, I'm Gabe, nice to meet you:)

This summer I will be participating in the 2012 Pacific Partnership, which means I'll be traveling around South East Asia aboard the USNS Mercy, a Navy medical ship, doing humanitarian engieering projects in countries like Cambodia and the Philippines. I'm currently pursuing my MS in Environmental Engineering at UH Manoa.

I've traveled around South East Asia twice already, and have tried volunteering at NGOs and doing what I can to help, but it felt like I was making a drop of a difference in an ocean of water. I'm excited to finally put my training and technical skills toward meeting large scale needs such as clean water, sanitation, and shelter. It is my hope that through this Pacific Partnership we'll make waves of difference instead of mere drops! I'm pretty stoked about these next couple of months, so I hope you decide to follow our blog and join us on this adventure.

 

 

Hi! I am Monique. This summer is going to be incredible and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and what I’ve learned with all of you. I am currently working on 2 master’s degrees: Urban and Regional Planning and Civil and Environmental Engineering. During my academic career I have focused on humanitarian assistance in the context of water resource management and disaster management. It has always been a dream of mine to be able to work in the field on projects that help communities and individuals to live a safer and cleaner life. I hope I will be able to share and inspire those who are following Gabe and I on our adventures for the next 3 months.

I’ve been to Cambodia and Vietnam before and am looking forward to going back, but Indonesia and the Philippians will be new and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve been given a lot of opportunities thanks to my family, so now it’s my turn to put my skills and education to work and give to someone else. As Gandhi said, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Okay, well, here I go! 
 
 Watch the video* from the opening ceremony of Pacific Partnership in Manado, Indonesia. 

* Video courtesy of pacificpartnership.wordpress.com/