Jan 28
2010

The Water School in Haiti

The current situation in Haiti has left hundreds of thousands of Haitians without safe drinking water for the foreseeable future. The Water School plans to be actively involved in the rebuilding program in health, sanitation and clean drinking water in Haiti.

Prior to the earthquake, we had initiated plans to start teaching our program in Haiti at the end of March 2010. In light of the recent tragic events, we have accelerated our program.

1. We have translated our teacher’s training manual into Haitian Creole and put it up on our website in electronic format for free download. We have translated a solar disinfection information flyer into Creole and it will be available for mass distribution.

2. Our team of trainers will be led by a Canadian medical doctor of Argentinean descent who has worked in Haiti with community development and health programs for many years. She will use her existing and new partner networks to spread The Water School program which has been so successful in other parts of the world.

3. Sixty experienced Haitian health care workers will be trained to teach the Water School program. Prior to the earthquake, they were already working among the local communities and so can implement the program quickly.

4. The technology of purifying water using plastic bottles and the rays of the  sun for solar disinfection (SODIS) will allow users to reuse the many water bottles that are already in the country. Negotiations however, are underway with major bottling companies to insure an ongoing bottle supply.

5. Over the next 5 years, we anticipate that we will equip 60,000 to 90,000 people to purify their own water by implementing The Water School system.

6. Of immediate concern is the upcoming rainy season (April) and the massive outbreak of cholera and typhoid that is expected due to the absence of sanitary facilities and  the presence of fecal matter and decomposing flesh. The solar disinfection technique has been proven to save lives in these circumstances in other countries.

We estimate that this intervention will cost $250,000 over the next five years.

Thank you for your continued support of The Water School and the Kili2010 climb as we work to be part of a safe drinking water solution for the impoverished children of our world.