Site Lekipay Community, Haiti

The community of Site Lekipay faced an unexpected water crisis. They used to have a hand pump in their community that worked and provided water to meet their needs. They could do their laundry, cook, and drink water with ease since they had a water source easily accessible to them. Unfortunately, their hand pump broke, and they could not fix it. The broken pump put the community in a predicament. Residents resorted to buying their water from local vendors. This new expense placed a financial strain on community members. Residents with minimal financial resources could not buy enough water to meet all their needs, which meant that cleaning and proper hygiene practices were sacrificed to have enough water to cook and drink.

The community also suffered from power outages. When the electricity went out, it was difficult for residents to go out and buy water, so they suffered with the bit of water they had left or no water at all until the outage ended. Adding to the problem was the lack of safe water. The only water residents had access to and could purchase was often unsafe. This resulted in community members suffering from illnesses caused by waterborne diseases. With the added expense of buying water, healthcare expenses also became an issue.

The water crisis brought many hardships for the residents of Site Lekipay. Community leaders looked for a solution, and when they heard of our work in the region, they immediately reached out for help. Our team responded by visiting the community and surveying the situation. The staff determined that rehabilitating the existing well was the most efficient solution. The staff returned, rehabilitated the borehole, and installed a new hand pump and Site Lekipay finally had a reliable, safe water source!

Rosaline Joanis is a resident in Site Lekipay. She shared her community’s story of transformation: “The situation was difficult. We had to buy water when there was electricity, and when there wasn’t, we had many problems. One person in my family had a skin illness due to the use of unsafe water.”

Now, Rosaline is excited about the many benefits of safe water to her community. She said, “We are very happy because we suffered a lot for lack of water. The situation will be better after this work.”