WATER PROJECT
The city of Petit-Goäve is located 68 kilometers (42 mi) southwest of Port-au-Prince. Clean Water system in those rural communities is almost non-existent. With clean water sources virtually non-existent in the rural communities, children are charged with the responsibility of walking countless miles to a stream or a well in the neighboring town and lugging it back to their homes. More often than not, families are forced to spend a portion of their hard-earned money on buying water from local businesses.
Gleam of Hope envisions a more permanent solution that would not only benefit our children but the entire community.
Imagine the positive impact it would create if they were able to save that money and spend it on the children’s education instead . With that thought as our driving force, Gleam of Hope has devised two solutions for providing clean potable water.
Solutions for Clean Water
Solution #1
We envision launching a water purification program, where we would ship filters that could produce 50-60 gallons of water a day for up to a year.
These filters won’t be the ultimate solution, but we believe they will be an effective, affordable and simple alternative solution to our current delivery method.
Solution #2
A more effective solution would be to dig deep wells to provide a permanent supply of clean water to the communities.
Gleam of Hope is actively looking for sponsors and partners to help us implement either of the two proposed solutions. If you know of any agencies that could help us with digging wells and installing filters, please contact us with the information.
A water well Project
Building a well in a small town where access to clean water supply is almost non-existent will lower the risk of diseases among adults and of microbial contamination (bacteria, viruses, amoeba) of water which causes diarrhea and infections in children. Through our observation, we found that children who suffer from diarrhea often become weak, lose concentration and eventually drop out of school. Those health conditions not only impact their learning abilities, but also render them vulnerable to other diseases.
Having an adequate water supply and sanitation would start to reverse the disease cycle, encourage children to attend school regularly and help them become successful. Imagine a town without sanitation and clean water where children have to carry water buckets on their heads for long distances. The water is often exposed to pollution in the air, dirt, bacteria and is unsafe to drink by the time it reaches home. The situation gets worse because households do not treat the water, even though it could be bacterially contaminated.
Today, we filter the water before we line-up the children to be served. Our bold vision for tomorrow is to have a well to provide the children and the community with clean drinking water. It is only a vision, one that we believe will one day become reality. Our initiative for this year is to partner with other organizations to make it possible. We will keep you posted on this development.
Where we stand today
The children we serve drink an average of 2 to 4 cups of water a day; double that amount on hot summer days. To cope with this major challenge, we have a 5 gallon drinking water bottle delivered to the us on a weekly basis.
As the number of children we support continues to grow, we will have to find an alternative source of clean water to satisfy the demand and control cost.
If you know of agencies that can assist us with filters, drilling fresh water well, provide sanitation and hygiene, please contact us today, we want to hear from you.
Haiti - Water Crisis
(http://thewaterproject.org/water-in-crisis-haiti)
According to the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, 70% of Haitians do not have direct access to potable water. With the adults of a household tirelessly working to earn every single meal, the burden of walking miles to the water source and then carrying it back home falls on the children.
Gleam of Hope envisions launching Water Purification and Well Building programs to provide easy access to clean potable water to the people of that region of the country. Support us to turn this vision into reality.