Ancaster News
ANCASTER ROTARY TEAM INSPECTS NEW WATER INSTALLATIONS IN HAITI
On a recent trip to the Artibonite Valley in Central Haiti five members of the Rotary Club of Ancaster had the opportunity to inspect work which has been performed over the past year building fifteen cisterns in the mountain areas surrounding the valley. These remote mountain villages have a serious problem obtaining reliable water supplies and people spend many hours per week walking down the paths to sources of water lower down the slopes. Over the past year, the Haiti Water For Life Program has worked with the local partners in Haiti, Hospital Albert Schweitzer and the local Rotary Club in Verrette to carry out this ambitious project. The funding for this project was a mix of donations to the Haiti Water For Life Program from Canada, the Ancaster Rotary Club, Rotary District 7090 Dedicated Funds and matching funds from Rotary International Foundation grants. This most recent section of the project cost $95,000 to complete. To finish reading this story, click on the Ancaster News header.
Shown in the photo with a completed cistern holding 65,000 litres and located in the village of Barbe are: (R to L) Rotarian Diane Price, Haitian Rotarian Dawn Johnson (Haitian Project Manager), Rotarians Joanna Turchin, Norma Sheldrick, Roy Sheldrick, along with two Haitian hospital workers who were onsite to teach the villagers about water conservation. Also on the trip was Ancaster Rotarian Kathy Starodub who was taking the photo.
Due to the impassible access, the the supplies to build the cisterns had to be transported by donkey to each of the villages for the final stage of their transport. The new cisterns will permit the storage of rain water collected during the rainy season and with careful management it should last for a good portion of the dry season. This will make it possible for the villagers in these remote locations to have more time to work and give them access to safe water without the need to walk for miles.
The Haiti Water For Life Program is now in its 18th year and has provided safe water to over 200,000 people in Haiti as well as building latrines for better sanitation and providing educational programming to train people in the regular maintenance of the infrastructure completed. As of this December, 258 wells and 737 latrines have made the Artibonite Valley a healthier place to live.