The residents of Cap Haitien, Haiti, do not have clean water. Their children get sick - and some die - from water-borne diseases and contamination. Some families spend the majority of their modest incomes on expensive bottled water, leaving little left for other necessities, such as food. Others just do without.
In November 2014 the Liberty Rotary Club and Archangel Airborne provided 100 water filtration units to 100 families in the devastated Fort St. Michel region of Cap Haitien, including the family of Islan (pictured above). When we returned in April 2015 those families were thankful for the gift of clean water, but we knew that the job was not finished. The magnitude of the problem demands that we do more -- much more. There are thousands in Cap Haitien who need our help and we must deliver. We will not simply stand by and watch a generation of children fail to reach adulthood simply because they cannot drink clean water.
Working with the Cap Haitien Rotary Club we intend to distribute 1,000 water filtration systems and hire, train and pay 5 local residents from Cap Haitien as technicians who will assist the families and provide us with reports.
We are applying for a Rotary Foundation Global Grant which, when approved, will match all donations raised by us (including those raised through YouCaring) 50 cents for every $1.00. Thus, every $1.00 raised on YouCaring will be equal to $1.50.
100% of all donations will go to the purchase and distribution of the water filtration units (and its supplies) and the training and wages of the technicians.
When we returned in April 2015 we saw the tremendous positive impact that the 100 units we distributed had in providing those families with clean water and a healthier life. We can only imagine what 1,000 units will do.
For more information about the participants go to www.libertynyrotary.org, and www.archangelairborne.org. You can find the Cap Haitien Rotary Club on Facebook. To learn more about the water filtration units go to www.giftofwater.org.
