In the last month, International Action has reached an additional 21,235 Haitians with safe, potable water, and more and more charitable and humanitarian aid groups are getting interested in our crucial, lifesaving work and chlorinator technology.
As part of our clean water pilot project with the United Nations Development Programme, we have installed chlorinators at the first two of 51 sites in Jacmel, Southern Haiti, now serving approximately 8,000 Haitians.
This is the encouraging first step towards implementing a UN-backed clean water program for the whole country.
We also installed a chlorinator and tank at the Power of Education Foundation’s School in Fontamara, Port-au-Prince, reaching 1,200 more Haitians with clean water. Children like first grader Edline Sainvil, 6, are now protected against chronic diarrhea and other waterborne diseases.
Last week, we put in a chlorinator and water tank at Grassroots United’s medical distribution warehouse as well as supplied chlorine for Engineers Without Borders-USA’s clean water project in Les Anglais, which delivers safe water for 12,000 locals.
Now, we are in discussions with Digicel, BRAC, and Plan Haiti about the possibility of installing chlorinators in their program sites and schools. We will also install chlorinators at six of French NGO GRET’s locations.
With the help of Christian Aid Ministries, our first shipment of 34 2,000-gallon water tanks has just cleared customs. These tanks will be used in the capital to replace ones destroyed by the quake. Our second batch of 34 tanks will be ready for shipment at the end of this month.
We will rebuild Port-au-Prince’s public water system one water tank and chlorinator at a time. We’ve identified six quake-damaged water stations within the city in need of tanks and are now seeking assistance to first remove the rubble at these locations, so we can pour concrete bases and install our tanks.
We also purchased an additional 500,000 albendazole doses for our ongoing de-worming campaign.
We continue to offer chlorinators, initial chlorine tablets, de-worming pills, and water tanks at no cost to any organization in need of them. If you know of any neighborhood, school, orphanage, church, hospital, or group in need of any of these, please let us know.
We’re saving lives and drastically improving the health of whole communities.
I, along with the hundreds of thousands who have drunk clean water from our chlorinators—We are living proof. Proof that there is a simple answer to untold suffering, sickness, and death from drinking dirty water in Haiti.
No longer do people have to die or fall ill needlessly. Right now, we are reaching more than 370,000 people in 39 locations with safe, potable water. However, many more Haitians remain without a reliable, clean water supply. The need is profound. The time to act is now.
Many thanks,
Jeremy Mak, Program Coordinator, International Action