Saturday January 12th, 2013 marked the third year anniversary since Haiti was victim to a catastrophic earthquake. We ask that you please take a moment and remember the people that lost their lives and those that were affected by the tragic event. We have worked hard to make sure that Haitians have clean water, and now, since the earthquake, 900,000 Haitians have access to clean water because of our efforts.
The earthquake killed over 200,000 people, injured over 300,000, and it displaced over 1 million people. Asides from human loss, the earthquake also damaged thousands of houses, schools, hospitals, and many other public infrastructure. All of these people are still recovering from the devastating effects caused by the earthquake. Many of the Haitians affected were left without clean water as their personal or community water stations were destroyed.
International Action has been providing clean water to Haiti since 2005. However, our efforts increased significantly since the earthquake destroyed many clean water infrastructures. Our Clean Water Campaign has been very successful and popular in the Haitian community. This program has helped over 900,000 Haitians gain access to clean, safe water through community-led and-based chlorination projects. We have installed and maintained roughly 140 chlorinators throughout Haiti. Neighborhoods consider the chlorinator a blessing. It does such an effective job providing clean water that people take pride of having one in their community.
As a result, we have started a new project, the Chlorine Bank Network, to make our chlorinators sustainable. The Chlorine Bank Network will provide a community based chlorine distribution network. The idea to build a chlorine distribution system came from the community. They just need some help to get started and organized. With the Chlorine Bank Network we are beginning a project leading towards community empowerment and sustainability.