COVID-19 Response

When the Coronavirus first hit Haiti, our Executive Director had been in country for just two weeks - of a five month data gathering expedition. Understanding what lay in front of us, we immediately adapted our goals to the specific needs the Coronavirus presented to the communities we work in.

Our long-standing focus on developing local leadership, compelled us to recruit and train a COVID-19 awareness team, as well as a team to train community members how to build hand washing stations. This, in addition to the rainwater harvesting systems we continued to build throughout the pandemic.

The processes and policies we have put in place over time, has meant that all of our work is completed without a foreign presence.

December 14, 2021 update

Coronavirus response at a glance (since March 26)

  • 10 New rainwater harvesting systems built, permanently improving access to water for over 4000 people

  • 64 Coronavirus awareness campaigns established in all 62 villages & 2 community markets throughout our project area

    • Each village & market was visited 3 times to ensure repetition of message and contact with as many people as possible

  • 1,580 Hand-washing stations built; 158 ”tippy-tap” workshops given (incl. soap, bleach, & “tippy-tap materials)

    • Each had washing station will serve at least one complete family; average family size is 8 people

    • 12,640 people served (8 x 1,580)

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At first glance, it would appear that Haiti would be one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the Coronavirus pandemic; the combination of high population density, inadequate sanitation, a government plagued by corruption, and emerging socio-political tensions seemed to indicate Haiti would be left in a desperate situation as the virus continued to spread.

Thankfully, things have not materialized as many, including ourselves, had feared. It is still not understood why, but the numbers are clear: for whatever reason, Haiti has dealt with the virus much better than most countries. It may be that the median age in Haiti is only 23 (compared to rest of the world at 30), it might be that Haitians have exceptionally strong immune systems, or it may be that Haitians have taken individual measures to improve basic hygiene (something Haitians have always taken far more seriously than non-Haitians choose to see or understand). It may be a combination of all of these, or none of them at all. We simply do not know.

Nevertheless, the Coronavirus is a deadly serious problem regardless of where you are. Haiti is no exception, and the communities we work with deserve an appropriate response.

We work in remote mountain communities – areas routinely ignored by the national government, international agencies like the UN, and all of the NGOs that routinely descend upon Haiti in times of crises. 

As you read this, however, we are on the ground … working in real time … and we need your support.

Imagine: the most important thing you can do to protect your family and community from the Coronavirus is to simply wash your hands … and you don’t have access to water.  

The government in Haiti offers little help to remote mountain villages; information is scarce, and rumors run rampant. We experienced this first hand during our response to cholera after the earthquake in 2010, and we feel an obligation to address the needs of the communities we work with; fortunately, we were in a unique position to establish a strategic response tailored to the specific challenges presented by the Coronovirus.

COVID-19 response

  1. Rainwater Harvesting

  2. Education & Awareness

  3. Hand Washing Stations

Our response is locally driven and managed; fostering leadership opportunities within the community, which expands our organizational capacity, improves project efficacy, and strengthens our long-term capabilities.   

Our work is vital, and we need your support.  If you are able, please make a donation.  Thank you.

If you are comfortable doing so, feel free to share our efforts with your network, or anyone you think would be interested.

Details

Rainwater Harvesting Systems

Nothing is more important than water.  We have recently identified and prioritized 34 additional high impact sites throughout the 62 villages in our project area.  Each village needs at least one system, with several needing more.  Each system costs $1500, and takes 4-8 weeks to complete.  Our local teams have gone through a specialized UN training program specifically designed for the systems we build.  We have a well-established process that allows us to build systems as funding comes through – on the ground in real time. 

The rainwater harvesting systems we build improve community health, increase agricultural production, and reduce the time children have to trek for water.  Harvesting rainwater is a vital part of fighting COVID-19, but it is also a critical component in dealing with the long-term consequences of climate change and extreme water stress.

Each system we build will continue having an impact long after this pandemic is over.

COVID-19 Awareness

In partnership with Surge 4 Water, we developed an awareness script in Kreyol that is culturally and contextually appropriate … including instructive images for those who do not read.  

We have recruited and trained 12 local community leaders to bring our COVID-19 message to all 62 villages throughout our project area.  Each team member will visit 3-5 villages, including their own, ensuring that we connect with each village throughout our project area.  Our goal is to visit each village at least 3 times.

Hand Washing Stations

Without a simple hand washing station, washing hands can use a lot of water – a huge problem for people living in a water scarce environment.  We have begun building “tippy-taps” in each village; offering a workshop on how to build them, and why they are so important, in the process. 

Workshops are led by Wilner, a local man who presented the idea of building “tippy-taps” in all villages throughout the area at one of our initial community meetings.  He learned to build tippy-taps at a workshop in Ganthier, a 4-hour hike to the bottom of the mountains, and uses one at his home in Mare Goyave … where we built a rainwater harvesting system in 2016. 

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