Record Details:

World Water Relief Haiti - 2010 Haiti Response - (SUPPLIES: WATER PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT/LTR)

Website: http://www.worldwaterrelief-haiti.org/


Mission: World Water Relief is an Operating Division of Emergency Response Resources, Inc., a 501c3 charitable corporation. This website, World Water Relief-Haiti.org was created in response to the urgent need for clean water in Haiti. All of our efforts and resources are fully dedicated to providing the Haitian people with clean water for drinking and sanitation. 100% of your donation will go toward our mission in Haiti





This organization provides Temporary or Permanent Service? Temporary

Notes:

Month 2 – From crisis response to sustainability

Due to the almost non-existent access to internet and intermittent phone service, it has been hard to stay as current with the blogging as I would like, but however late, here is our most recent update:

Over the past month World Water Relief has slowly transitioned its focus from immediate emergency relief back to what we do best, long-term sustainable solutions. Our response over the first two months of the disaster was to help the water situation in Port-au-Prince by any means possible. Whether that meant coordinating water truck deliveries, installing filtration units, searching for clean water tanks – whatever it was, we did our best to help out. After installing 23 solar-powered, portable filtration units in hospitals, schools and NGO’s throughout Haiti, we decided as an organization to focus our efforts there for the long-term rebuilding and stabilization efforts that would follow.

Over the course of 2010, this country will need the help and attention of the entire world to alleviate the problems it is facing. As a nation already struggling under the grips of extreme poverty and corruption before January 15, Haiti is now left with 220,000 dead, 1,000,000 homeless and 300,000 injured. The national government, education system and economy are literally under rubble. It is hard to imagine any country so small could recover from such a disaster and prevail. Yet if there is such a country, it is Haiti. The Haitian people are stronger than iron; their faith and perseverance have inspired the world. And although this will not be a quick recovery, the people are trying to believe, trying to hold on.

For WWR to become a part of this process and continue to bring clean water to Haiti, it was important to work with the nation’s people from the ground up. With the flood of humanitarian aid, development projects and international involvement, it was extremely challenging for a small organization like WWR to work itself into the fold. Our idea then was to set up our own operations in Haiti and begin working on the ground, creating partnerships, getting involved in rebuilding efforts and spreading the word about our clean water mission.

The first step was to move down to Haiti. Is this what was originally written in my job description? Absolutely not. But WWR has learned that a strong in-country presence is the most important part of being effective in international development. So after a brief stint back in the states, I hopped on a plane back to Haiti and made my way to Jean Jean’s hometown, Mirebalais, in the central plateau. I had worked here before on a project back in the summer of 2009, so I felt at home – as at home as the only American in town can feel. Jean Jean and I found a few open beds at his neighbor’s house and paid them for three months’ stay. I thought this would do, and after eating their home-cooked food the first night, I decided it would more than do.

The next step was to look for a place to work. Typing on a computer in a full house of 10 people (four kids) and focusing on your task is not the easiest thing to do. So we spoke with the mayor of Mirebalais about our organization; he was familiar with our work in the area and was willing to help. After explaining our mission and our goals, at once he told us, “Pa gen pwoblem,” meaning “no problem” in Creole. He immediately gave us an air-conditioned space in his own building for free. We now had our first in-country WWR office in Mirebalais, Haiti. It was a very hearty welcoming and showed us how important this clean water mission was for the region.

Our goal for the next three months would be to look for project opportunities, create in-country partnerships and devise a long-term clean water program for the region. After visiting this area post-earthquake and deploying seven filtration units with both USAID and Partners in Health, we decided to start with these two organizations. Due to the extreme lack of access to water in Haiti, our filtration systems are often not applicable to many communities. After talking with those at Partners in Health about our goals, they said in the 35 communities where they work, only five have access to water. Their response to the water crisis was focused on source creation for the areas – bringing wells, boreholes, spring capping, etc. to nearly 500,000 people living in the Mirebalais region.

We saw this as a great chance to help, both with manpower and funding, to bring a variety of clean water solutions to Haiti. On top of providing filtration systems to hospitals, clinics and schools, we would also help create water access in the region, the most glaring immediate problem. With around 20,000-30,000 people moving from Port-au-Prince to Mirebalais over the past two months, it has created a serious strain on resources and living space in the area. Water will become even more of a scarce and expensive entity as this year progresses.

With our friends at USAID, we met and agreed on two more filtration system installations in the city of Mirebalais. With such congested living and low access to clean water, the few sources in town that are drawing ground water need to be filtered for the people. In May WWR will be working with local USAID representatives to begin two new filtration projects in the city of Mirebalais.

Now that we are more settled, it should be much easier to provide updates on our progress. We will be posting a bi-monthly report on our projects and work as this year goes on. Thank you all for your support, and remember that this situation is fixable. It is possible for Haiti to get back on its feet, and with the world’s care and attention, it will.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 5:22 pm

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World Water Relief, which sets up clean-water projects in rural communities, is preparing to send about a dozen people and 50 water-purification units to Haiti to help the hospitals, program manager Ben Seidl said.

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