As told by Carolyn Meub
Last week, I was visiting our team in Haiti. My timing was quite good, as I happened to be there on the day our team began delivering upon our commitment to provide clean water solutions to 1,000 families in Cité Soleil, a suburb of Port-au-Prince and an area regularly considered the most impoverished slum in the Western Hemisphere.
The first 150 families had participated in safe water and hygiene education classes. Volunteer Community Agents had been recruited and had received their more extensive training on safe water and hygiene education, as well as training on filter installation and maintenance. They were all ready and eager to receive their filters!
One of the first beneficiaries, Acci Rosny, was gracious and willing to share with me what it means to her to have a safe water filter in her home. Mrs. Rosny, the matriarch of nine in her multigenerational home, spoke passionately about having clean water.
“Life is more important than money,” she said. “I need to protect the life of my family, and with clean water my family is protected.”
Mrs. Rosny spent every day walking 25 minutes to a public water source; the closest clean water source to her home. Once there, it might take an hour or more to collect water, as many other people also came for the water.
With her new filter, Mrs. Rosny will save significant time every day, as she will be able to walk to a closer site to get water. She has peace of mind knowing that the filter will clean the water and make it safe for her family.
Another benefit Mrs. Rosny mentioned was that she no longer had to spend 25 Haitian Gourdes ($.53 USD) to purchase a bucket of water. She will now be saving that money for other necessities she could not afford before the filter.
When the Pure Water team left her home, she thanked them for changing her life and the lives of her family.
We have received funding to support over 930 families of the 1,000 families committed. Less than 70 families remain. You can make a life-changing impact on a family, like Mrs. Rosny’s, by donating today. Thank you!