Latest Water Purification Project in Jacmel:
The latest water purification system was installed in Jacmel at the Missionaries of St. Alphonse School. Due to covid-19, our team was not able to travel to Haiti to help install the water system. Instead, the in-country Living Waters for the World team installed the system perfectly. Brother Wilfred is the superior at St. Alphonse and he has done an outstanding job with the management and upkeep of the water system. The water system supports the school of about 250 students as well as the surrounding community. The brothers are selling about 25 five-gallon bottles of water per day to the community and have even started planning to offer water delivery to those who cannot carry the heavy bottles of water to their homes! The water committee has met with the parents and students at the school to teach the importance of clean water. They encourage everyone to spread the lessons they learn to the surrounding community as well so that all can benefit from clean water. With an immaculately clean water building, organized water sales logs, and an extremely dedicated water committee, the water system at St. Alphonse is a shining example of what Living Waters for the World and the Haiti Mission strive for in every water system installation.
Update on the Water Bladder Project:
The Holy Spirit Haiti Mission shipped and installed a 10,000-gallon water bladder for the community of Decouze last fall. Our in-country partners installed it in April. Now that the rainy season has arrived, the bladder has begun filling up! We estimate that it has already collected about 3,500 gallons of water that will be filtered using the water purification system and distributed throughout the community even during the dry season. We are continuing to monitor the progress of the water bladder project and hope to implement the same method to other areas that do not have access to clean water during the dry season. The below pictures show the water bladder installation progression. Please consider visiting the Donate and Get Involved page to contribute to this project.
Clean water is very scarce in Haiti as the government does not provide drinkable water. This causes most Haitians to drink water that is bacteria laden which often causes sickness. Holy Spirit Haiti Mission works closely with Living Waters for the World, a ministerial organization based in the US that works to bring batch process water filtration systems to many parts of the world. Holy Spirit Haiti Mission has installed over twenty water filtration systems in Haiti which provide clean water to thousands. One important aspect of the process begins with setting up a network of people within Haiti who are responsible for the care and maintenance of the water filtration system. This helps to provide accountability and ensure that the system is continually being utilized. Each water system that is installed is in part funded by the Haitians who will be using the system so that they feel a sense of ownership for the project. When requesting a water filtration system, they must demonstrate how they will fund the upkeep of the system and how they will benefit the surrounding community which is also in need of water. With this system, we work to ensure that the investment in clean water in Haiti has the greatest impact possible on the community.
To learn more about Living Waters for the World and what they are doing to bring clean water to those who need it most across the world, please visit their website.
Additionally, here is the link to the Living Waters for the World YouTube channel which gives updates on water systems being installed in Haiti. The Haiti Network Team videos are in English but many others are in French. You can auto generate subtitles by selecting CC in the bottom right of the video and then Settings gear just to the right of that and change Subtitles/CC to Auto Translate and English. Just remember that the subtitles are auto-generated so there may be a few things lost in translation.
Living Waters of the World Article
Living Waters for the World, the organization that the Holy Spirit Haiti Mission works with to provide water purification systems throughout Haiti, has written an article describing the latest water purification system that was installed entirely by in-country technicians which was a first for the Holy Spirit Haiti Mission. To learn more, please visit Living Waters for the World.
Haiti Partners Overcome Adversity to Share Clean Water
By Jennifer Zehnder
Carrefour,
Haiti, climbs up the side of a hill directly west of Port au Prince. One city flows into the other. Street signs provide the only indication of a change in locale. In Carrefour, sits Notre Dame Guadeloupe (pictured to the right), a large Catholic church with approximately 600 members and a school educating 400 students. The church also serves the community with water drawn from a reservoir 300 feet away. Until the 2010 earthquake, the water was clean and safe for drinking. Despite contamination nine years ago, the reservoir has remained the primary source of drinking water for the community.
In early 2019, Father Joseph Duvillage met members of the LWW team from Holy Spirit Haiti Mission (a ministry of Holy Spirit Catholic church in Huntsville, Ala.) and told them Carrefour’s story. Bob McCoy, representing the Holy Spirit team, and Father Joseph, representing Notre Dame Guadeloupe, signed a covenant that would restore health to the community. Together the partners planned to install a water purification system.
Caption: (Left to right) Bertone Kercelin, Haiti In-country Technician; Ancy Fils-Aime, Haiti In-Country Director; Lucson Celestin, Haiti In-country Technician
Unfortunately, violence within Haiti hit its peak around the time the partners planned to install the system. Ultimately, the situation was too threatening for the Huntsville team to travel. Bob McCoy recalled, “We had to make the hard decision not to go. This was the first time ever that we cancelled a trip.”
The Holy Spirit team knew their partners were ready for the installation, and they didn’t want to let them down. So, Holy Spirit Haiti Mission and LWW’s in-country network crafted a Plan B.
Having worked closely with LWW’s in-country team in Haiti, Bob knew they had the ability to step in and lead. Ancy Fils-Aime, Bertone Kercelin, and Lucson Celestin have served LWW water partners across Haiti for more than a decade. As Haitians trained in LWW’s system and processes, all partners benefit from their knowledge and expertise. Bob spoke of the team with high regard saying, “They want your trust and will earn it. Their integrity is impeccable beyond measure.” He felt confident they were the best people to take the lead in this exceptional situation.
Caption: (Left to right) Bertone Kercelin, Haiti In-country Technician; Ancy Fils-Aime, Haiti In-Country Director; Lucson Celestin, Haiti In-country Technician
Bertone got through the blockades to retrieve parts and supplies shipped to Haiti months before by the Holy Spirit team. In late November, he was finally able to acquire the water tanks, PVC pipe, and plywood needed to build the water board. At last they were ready to teach Notre Dame Guadeloupe church members to install the system that would provide clean water for Carrefour.
They led all the typical elements of an installation—and some atypical ones. Lucson had the challenge of laying 300 feet of PVC pipe to get the water from the reservoir to the water building. He also had to install a remote starter for the pump that the planning team wasn’t 100% certain would work. Nic Price, the engineer on the Holy Spirit team that designed the wireless remote, felt overwhelming relief and joy when Lucson called him and declared “it all works!”
After completing the health education lessons, they ended with a great celebration – in this case a full mass and water system consecration.
Left Caption: Father Joseph (third from right) consecrates Carrefour’s new LWW water purification system
Right Caption: The water purification system that will provide safe drinking water for citizens of Carrefour, Haiti.
Ancy spoke on behalf of the installation team. Bertone read a letter from the Holy Spirit Haiti Mission team. The choir sang a rendition of “Use This Water” in Creole as taught in the health education classes. Father Joseph blessed the system and raised a cup of clean water thanking God for this great gift. The water distribution window opened to the crowd, and women rushed forward to have their empty bottles filled. Clean water was shared with all present, and God permitting, clean water will continue to flow for generations to come.
Notre Dame Guadeloupe is the latest of 22 water partnerships between Holy Spirit Haiti Mission and Haitian communities.