Clean Water for Haitian Orphanage

A lot of us here on the west coast have been thinking a lot about water recently. If you’re like me, you have worried about the drought in California and may have even imagined what it would be like if we ran out of water completely.

Have you thought about the fact that there are people living without access to water each day all over the world? Drought or no drought, I know that when I turn on the faucet in my house water will come. However, there are so many who are currently living without that privilege.

I have spent significant amounts of time over the past five years visiting Haiti and falling in love with some great kiddos at a boy’s and girl’s orphanage in Leogane, Haiti. Both orphanages currently have NO access to clean water. The well that they are getting water from right now is only pulling up dirty, green water. This is the water they use to drink, bathe, clean, and wash clothes with. Even this dirty water source is limited and tends to break often. When I was just visiting in April, I had to pump the well 40 times before water even came up the spigot and once it did, it was filthy and full of dirt and algae. Water is a basic necessity to sustain life and these kids deserve access to it. The wells at both the girl’s and boy’s orphanages have never been dug to the correct depth and therefore have had problems every year. The wells are currently dug around 40 or 50 feet when they need to be dug to 100 or 150 feet. If I can raise $6,000 in the next four weeks then I will be able to pay for new wells that are deep enough so that the kids will have cleaner water and a more consistent source even during the dry season.

I am partnering with Operation Blessing International (http://www.ob.org/) to dig new wells. They are offering to build two wells for the orphanages at $3,000 each and then they will give us two wells for free. That’s a total of $6,000 for four wells! That is the best price that I have heard of in Haiti so we’re getting a great deal. By buying two wells for the orphanages we will also be able to provide clean water to the surrounding communities. The people in the two villages surrounding the orphanages are currently walking for over twenty minutes to the closest well for water. Can you even imagine that?? We have found a group of Haitian community leaders from each village that are going to collect and save about 10 gourdes (about 25 cents) per family in the community per month. That money will be used for upkeep and repairs to the wells. That way, the communities will be responsible for the wells and have an investment in keeping them functioning. They community leaders have also helped us find public land to put the wells on so that no one can stake a claim and start charging people unfair amounts for using the water.

Getting wells for both the orphanage and the surrounding villages will drastically change the lives of the people in this community and I know that it is WELL worth the $6,000!! Please check out my gofundme campaign to donate today!!!

gofundme.com/u8fjgk