Our two newest members of the Haiti team hit the ground last month to throw their backs into the Haiti efforts: Dave Hampton and Darren Gill.

Dave Hampton, a North Carolinan by birth (with Cuban blood), joined the Haiti team in October. He's a licensed architect in Illinois and North Carolina, a LEED AP, a certified Passive HouseTM consultant, and a 10-year resident of Chicago.

Dave's got an eco trail stretching back to before green was cool, or easy...that's right, the "Kermit days." Past projects with his firm Echo Studio include urban Passive House retrofits, LEED AP and Energy Star consultation services, rooftop gardens and living wall designs (with Repkin Biosystems). He is a cofounder and President of Urban Habitat Chicago (UHC), an Illinois nonprofit that encourages sustainable concepts and practices in urban environments. He was also instrumental in developing the deconstruction industry in Chicago and serves as a board member of the Delta Institute’s ReBuilding Exchange.

Now, however cool Dave and his inexhaustable pirate wardrobe are, Darren can only meet Dave with an equal intensity of liquid awesomeness.

Darren's a familiar face to us at HQ. He just completed a stint in Uganda working on the Nakaseeta Academy and jumped at a second tour of duty in Haiti. I remember wishing him well on his fellowship in Africa last winter and he turned around a four room compressed earth block school room in that amount of time, zipped back to Ireland for a quick hullo with friends and family and showed up in Port-au-Prince for a new job. Sure Darren, we'll put you to work.

An architecture masters graduate from University College Dublin and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Darren's worked on a wide variety of projects in Haiti and India with UCD Volunteers Overseas including the design and construction of homes and schools, and environmental conservation work. Originally from Dublin he worked with Gerry Cahill Architects, a community orientated practice, on urban design and educational projects. He also worked on many high-end residential and institutional buildings with Robin Mandal Architects.

Dave will be helping the J/P HRO Internally Displaced Persons camp meet their design needs for the next year. Darren will be using is international design & construction expertise to work with local contractors rebuilding schools and other projects around Haiti. Thanks for the hard work guys and have a good winter break!