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Hope For Haiti
Location: Naples, Florida Date Founded: 1989 Contact Name: Stephanie Jepsen Contact: stephanie@hopeforhaiti.com Website: https://www.hopeforhaiti.com 9dc Give Amount: $500 Video: https://youtu.be/hOtnUCKM8uc |
Update: February 17, 2022
Stephanie wanted to pass along an update from our donation. In May 2021, five household filtration systems were distributed to five families in the Kalanmi section of Mesle. The community has 8,000-10,000 families with only two water access points. The families supported by your 9dollarclub donation received comprehensive training on healthy habits like handwashing, safe water storage and education on the importance of using clean water for more than just drinking. The five distributed water filtration systems can filter up to 1 million gallons in their lifetime, and based on our observations and feedback from recipients, families filter an average of 10 gallons per day. In January 2022, Dominique Elius, Hope for Haiti’s WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) Manager visited the five program recipients for an in-person monitoring visit. Monitoring and evaluation is an important part of Hope for Haiti’s programming, and as you will see, several important findings came out of this visit. 1. One system was damaged and was replaced. 2. One system was given to other family members. 3. All households shared a need for latrines in the community. These were the 5 people and families that we helped: Jean Moise Cadichon, 37 years old - Mr. Cadichon has maintained the system well, and noted that the filter was correctly installed on the bucket system and people are drinking water from the filtration system. Mr. Cadichon expressed his gratitude to Hope for Haiti for this help. The system serves a total of 10 people in two houses. Mr. Cadichon did share that the community needs latrines, as many defecate in the open air. Mardy Sergot, 51 years old - Dominique Elius, Hope for Haiti’s WASH Manager noted that Mr. Sergot provided the instructions to his wife on how to use the system properly, clean it once a week, and this was clear during his visit. The filter was in good working order. In addition, Mr. Sergot ensures the children drink water from the filtration system only and there are no more cases of diarrhea and abdominal pain in his family. This is progress from the baseline survey, when 80% (4) of the households reported that in the last two months household members experienced headaches, diarrhea, stomach pain, cough, skin rash and sore throat. He thanks the 9dollarclub and Hope for Haiti for this help. He said that seven people are using the system. Mr. Sergot asked for help to have latrines in his locality as the community is in need of sanitation and hygiene infrastructure. Louimène Benoit (Clomène), 63 years old - Mrs. Louimène Benoit (Clomène) said she started using the filter, but after a while she found that the water coming out of the filter tasted bad and she no longer used it. When checking the filter, Dominique Elius saw that (most likely) a rat ate the tube that connects the filter and the bucket. Dominique replaced the filter and now the system works properly and she'll restart using it. Clomène also said that her greatest need is to have a latrine because she defecates in the field not far from her house. Lanèse Despero, 64 years old - Mrs. Lanèse noted, “My residence has a lot of people; one filter is not really enough. There are 15 people who use the water from the filter, it makes me fill the infiltration system every day. If it is possible to have another I will be very happy.” The filter was well maintained and clean during the visit. Mrs. Lanèse also shared the need for a latrine for her family. Adnel Baguidy, 57 years old - Mr. Adnel gave his filtration system to his daughter who has children and lives in another house. He said that the filter is used and well maintained by his daughter. He says there are six people using the water from the filter. Mr. Adnel expressed concern about the lack of latrines in the area and asked for help from Hope for Haiti because the entire population of Kalanmi defecates in the open air. Update: June 11, 2021Hope For Haiti shared some information about how exactly the 9dc was able to make an impact with our May donation. Thank you all for helping make this possible! In order to determine which families would participate in the project, Hope for Haiti's team held a planning meeting with the leadership of the St. Patrick School in early May. The school identified a sister community, Mesle, that was in dire need of water support. The community has 8,000-10,000 families with only two water access points. Mesle is an important community to the school as children from this community travel to St. Patrick’s to attend school. Jean Herns Dede, Hope for Haiti’s Healthcare Program Manager, was personally moved by the school leadership’s desire to redirect the filtration systems to meet the needs of a neighboring community. Once our team arrived at the community, we had to walk an additional 45 minutes to reach the families. On the day of baseline survey collection and training on the systems, more than 15 additional people came to attend the training even though they didn’t receive a filtration system....you can read the summary report HERE. The Story Clean drinking water is the most basic element that every person needs. Here in the United States, it’s easy to take our access to clean water for granted. It’s available to us anytime we want it, virtually everywhere we go. The fact is there are many places around the world that simply do not have this luxury. A good example of this problem is in Haiti. Less than half of Haitians in rural areas have access to water, and only an estimated 24% of Haitians living in rural communities have access to a toilet. Access to clean, fresh water is a main concern in Haiti, where waterborne illnesses, such as typhoid, cholera, and chronic diarrhea, are the cause of more than half of the deaths in the country every year. Contaminated water is also one of the leading causes of childhood illness and the very high infant death rate in Haiti (57 for every 1000 births). We recently met Stephanie Jepson, who is Chief Development Officer for an awesome organization called Hope for Haiti. They are on the ground there year round and have built a network of partnerships with local communities across the Haiti working address a variety challenges related to extreme poverty, health and education. One of their most important programs focuses on the creation and distribution of clean, potable water for families. What Did We Give? Stephanie told us about an amazing technology called a Sawyer Filtration System that allows them to modify a common 5 gallon bucket in to an inexpensive, reliable clean water filtration system that can be used in homes in Haiti. Once installed, the Sawyer filter will remove 99.9999% of the bacteria that cause waterborne illness. And the amazing part is one filter will last up to 10 years! (Read more about Sawyer Filtration Systems here - https://international.sawyer.com/water-filters/ So this month, the 9dollarclub is purchasing a Sawyer filtration system for 5 families in rural Haiti! (see image below) The staff at Hope for Haiti will work directly with local community leaders to distribute and train families on the proper use and maintenance of the systems. These 5 families will now have direct access to clean drinking water in their homes for the next 10 years! This will be a total game changer for them and is a foundational step towards a better, healthier life in Haiti. We are so grateful to have met Stephanie and learn about how her organization Hope for Haiti is impacting many lives in Haiti. We look forward to sharing updates and progress of the 5 families that we are helping and future impact that the 9dc is making.
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Video with Stephanie Jepsen, Hope For Haiti
Hope For Haiti Story
For the past 30 years, Hope For Haiti has been working to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people in particular children. Despite the challenges the country faces with economic poverty, natural disasters, difficult social and political challenges, HopeForHaiti believes and operates with the fundamental belief that there is always a pathway to a better life in Haiti.
They partner with local communities and Haitians to improve education, infrastructure, water, education and healthcare. Core to their success is their Haitian staff of educators, doctors, nurses, and program leaders that are making a difference in their own country. It is the belief of HopeForHaiti that they can lift families out of poverty and create a sustainable environment for prosperous growth and thriving communities.
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