dinepa

Today, International Action met with DINEPA water department officials and UN WASH Cluster partners to strategize a coordinated response to the spreading cholera epidemic. To combat this fatal waterborne disease, International Action plans to supply and install 50 chlorinators and 8 water tanks throughout Artibonite Department, the epicenter of the outbreak. Nine hundred chlorine tablets have also been released by the organization to the Haitian water agency and other NGOs addressing the public health crisis.

In response to the growing demands for clean water from the internally displaced people living in camps throughout Port-au-Prince, International Action has launched a new initiative to fulfill the urgent requests for intervention. We purchased a new water truck, 1,000-gallon capacity, which will serve several camps, clinics, and schools in the metropolitan Port-au-Prince area.

Last week, I returned from conducting a 6-month post-quake assessment of our clean water program in Haiti. What I saw was truly heart-wrenching. Vast stretches of displaced persons camps and countless makeshift shelters on the street. People collecting filthy grey-water from trash-strewn drainage ditches. Open sewers.

To further the "return home" goal, International Action installed two chlorinators in the neighborhood of Cité-aux-Cayes while DINEPA has worked to restore water there. Also, a school with over 200 students in Cité Soleil received a 150-gallon water tank.