“Spring Box” under construction on the mountainside
One of the many struggles that Haitians in rural areas face is access to clean water. Oftentimes families have to carry water a half mile or more each day. The community of Mauger that surrounds the mission house gets water from a “spring box” far up the mountain. Over the years the system has deteriorated limiting the amount of water available to the community.
The “Free School” does not have a water source and drilling a well in the rocky terrain would be very expensive to provide water for the school. After meeting with the local water committee, Helping Hands Coordinator, Pierre Fritzner, presented a plan to construct a new spring box and pipe the water to the school and several locations along the way. Although it would cost more than drilling a well, the benefit to the community would also be much greater and the committee welcomed the opportunity to have the water system updated.
Nearly 70 local residents agreed to work on the project at less than the going wage as they would all benefit from the project. The workers would also be fed one meal each day. Fritz said there are many men and women receiving much needed income and a good meal in a win-win situation for the community and the school. (Thank you John for your part in providing funding for part of this project.)