Eric Harshfield and Shivani Jain, two graduate students from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, are providing a six-week evaluation of International Action’s flagship program – Campaign for Clean Water in Haiti. This is our community-based chlorinator and water storage tank program. The primary custodians of this project are the community leaders and members, who have an invaluable role in every step of the process.
The Emory graduates have been in the capital city since the beginning of July. Their goal is three-fold: (1) to measure how many residents and communities we provide safe water to, understand the impact of our project by conducting door-to-door interviews, and monitor the state of our equipment; (2) to develop a monitoring framework so we may evaluate our program throughout the year; and (3), to establish a network of employees to carry out future program evaluations. Eric and Shivani have hired five Haitian university students to survey the public. They will be supervised by local water board members. One hundred fifty surveys have been completed, and the first community focus group will be held on July 21. These focus groups will allow the community’s voice to be heard, expressing their needs and sharing their ideas.