The Blog
Sak Passé! What’s up!
October 4, 2011
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I am just back from a short but enriching visit to Haiti. Having picked up no Kreyól but definitely lots of smiles, I relished in the relaxed nature of the Haitian people. I have just spent 10 days in Port-Au-Prince, working with an organization named World Cares, an on the ground disaster response NGO. Along with 11 other eager volunteers, I set out to learn more about Haiti and give out donations that we had collected from friends and family. Of course, I kept a special eye out for WatSan experiences so I could come back and share with the WellDone family. Here is what I learned and saw…
In and around Port-Au-Prince, you still see many camps with displaced Haitians, waiting and hoping for a way to get back home or resettled in a new home. It has been a year and a half since the earthquake, and the Haitians have adapted to their new way of living – in displacement camps making new friends and starting new ventures. Some of these camps are small – about 1000 people - and some are really large, up to 30,000 people. The larger camps, like J/P HRO (Sean Penn’s camp), has an excellent supply of resources thanks to good planning and monetary support.
When the cholera outbreak hit rural Haiti, it stopped in the urban camps, because many of the camp residents were already getting a clean water supply. Others in Port-Au-Prince buy water, either through water tankers, filtered water (think Sparkletts), or packet vendors. The ‘packet vendors’, as I’ve termed them, walk around selling packets of clean water. Five gourdes ($.12) gets you 3 packets of water for on the spot drinking.
While driving around Port-Au-Prince you also see many water treatment outlets or water purification plants, which supply clean water.
People are now very aware of what it means to have clean and safe water, but access is the issue. Haitians who cannot afford to buy water for the entire family also do not have a public option – there were scarcely any hand pumps or taps accessible outside of the camps, let alone the quality that comes from these sources.
At our lodging in Delmas, two representatives from Waves4Water visited us, a community of American surfers that supply clean water technology in disaster areas. They showed us this:
The latest and greatest in clean water technology. The little black filter contains hundreds of fiber membranes that eliminate 99% of disease-causing bacteria, protozoa, and cysts. They have been handing these buckets out to rural communities and families affected by cholera.
But one nagging question I had about dlo (‘water’ in Kreyól) was, what was the government doing to provide clean water to its people? DINEPA – the National Directorate for Water and Sanitation, the Haitian government's water authority, is the body responsible for providing clean water to Port-Au-Prince. And according to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (Bill Clinton’s initiative),
“The Government of Haiti developed a strategy for water through a closely coordinated effort of all major partners, under the leadership of the water department (DINEPA) which operates within the Haitian Ministry of Planning (MTPTC). Additionally, a major water-related legislation was approved and a new structure for the water department was enacted….Substantial funds were approved by various donors that allow for the implementation of the water strategy. Implementation will take several years due to the scale of the problem, from protection of water sources, construction of main pipes, renovation of water systems in most urban areas, quality assurance, cost recovery, and governance.”
So long story short, they are working on it. In the mean time, DINEPA has approved NGOs like Oxfam and Water Missions International to step in and provide clean water for Haitians.
I think with such low access to potable water, it will take a while for a healthy water and sanitation infrastructure to come up in Port-Au-Prince, let alone the rest of Haiti. In the mean time, people are making do, and relying heavily on the aid of NGOs. For the rest of us, we can educate ourselves and support those initiatives that support the government’s work.
Happy Thoughts,
Shwetha
When the cholera outbreak hit rural Haiti, it stopped in the urban camps, because many of the camp residents were already getting a clean water supply. Others in Port-Au-Prince buy water, either through water tankers, filtered water (think Sparkletts), or packet vendors. The ‘packet vendors’, as I’ve termed them, walk around selling packets of clean water. Five gourdes ($.12) gets you 3 packets of water for on the spot drinking.
While driving around Port-Au-Prince you also see many water treatment outlets or water purification plants, which supply clean water.
People are now very aware of what it means to have clean and safe water, but access is the issue. Haitians who cannot afford to buy water for the entire family also do not have a public option – there were scarcely any hand pumps or taps accessible outside of the camps, let alone the quality that comes from these sources.
At our lodging in Delmas, two representatives from Waves4Water visited us, a community of American surfers that supply clean water technology in disaster areas. They showed us this:
The latest and greatest in clean water technology. The little black filter contains hundreds of fiber membranes that eliminate 99% of disease-causing bacteria, protozoa, and cysts. They have been handing these buckets out to rural communities and families affected by cholera.
But one nagging question I had about dlo (‘water’ in Kreyól) was, what was the government doing to provide clean water to its people? DINEPA – the National Directorate for Water and Sanitation, the Haitian government's water authority, is the body responsible for providing clean water to Port-Au-Prince. And according to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (Bill Clinton’s initiative),
“The Government of Haiti developed a strategy for water through a closely coordinated effort of all major partners, under the leadership of the water department (DINEPA) which operates within the Haitian Ministry of Planning (MTPTC). Additionally, a major water-related legislation was approved and a new structure for the water department was enacted….Substantial funds were approved by various donors that allow for the implementation of the water strategy. Implementation will take several years due to the scale of the problem, from protection of water sources, construction of main pipes, renovation of water systems in most urban areas, quality assurance, cost recovery, and governance.”
So long story short, they are working on it. In the mean time, DINEPA has approved NGOs like Oxfam and Water Missions International to step in and provide clean water for Haitians.
I think with such low access to potable water, it will take a while for a healthy water and sanitation infrastructure to come up in Port-Au-Prince, let alone the rest of Haiti. In the mean time, people are making do, and relying heavily on the aid of NGOs. For the rest of us, we can educate ourselves and support those initiatives that support the government’s work.
Happy Thoughts,
Shwetha