Jileron Carrefour Carre Community, Section 3E, Haiti
After their borehole broke down, the members of the Jileron Carrefour Carre community were plunged into a water crisis. Without a working well, residents had to leave their community to find water for drinking, cooking, hygiene, and chores. It was a time-consuming and exhausting chore for the women and children tasked with water collection. They spent most of the day looking for and hauling water. The women were unable to work or care for their families and homes. The children often missed school, putting their futures at risk.
The community members rationed their water strictly and abandoned basic hygiene. And even when they did find water, there was no guarantee that it was safe to drink. Water-related illnesses were common in the Jileron Carrefour Carre community; diarrhea, dysentery, worms, and parasites were the cost of drinking water from questionable sources.
Jean Marie Magui is a 55-year-old resident of Jileron Carrefour Carre. She and many of her neighbors remembered a time when water access was easy, simple, and safe. But without a safe water well in the community, they were at the mercy of the water crisis.
Jean Marie said, “For many months, the community did not have access to safe water. The water well did not work, and the population had to go out of the community to access safe drinking water.”
When the community heard about our team’s work in the area, they knew they had found the answer to their water crisis. Team representatives responded to the community’s need by coming to rehabilitate the existing well! They installed the necessary parts to make the well function once more, including a new hand pump.
The team also helped the Jileron Carrefour Carre residents establish sustainability practices to help ensure a future of safe water access, guiding them in the selection of a water committee to oversee the care and maintenance of the well. Our team representatives will stay in contact with the community to support sustainability efforts and monitor the well’s functionality.
In order to help the community members understand how to use the safe water you gave them as a means of improving their health, a hygiene and sanitation promotion activity was held. The residents learned how to care for the new pump and safely store the water. They also learned effective handwashing technique, which will keep them from getting sick.
Jean Marie knows that having restored access to safe water will transform her community. She explained that having safe water “will change a lot as we won’t have to go out of the community to access water.”
She and her neighbors feel hope, knowing they are agents of change in their region. They are trained and ready to sustain their rehabilitated well. The Jileron Carrefour Carre community members no longer have to rely on distant or unsafe water sources. Nor will they suffer from water-related diseases.
| COMMUNITY DETAILS | |
| Exact Coordinates: | Latitude: 19.6126 | Longitude: -72.26415 |
| Previous Water: | Hand dug well |
| Source/Location: | Rural Communit |
| Total Users: | 250 |
| Main Water Collectors: | Women and children |
| CONSTRUCTION DETAILS | |
| Pump Type: | Hand pump |
| Depth of Well: | 45 m |
| Coliform Bacteria: | Absent |
