charity: water

Population: 2,100 people

GPS: 18.8032, -73.007783

Partner: Concern Worldwide

Intervention: 30 boreholes will be drilled. The community will also construct 280 latrines.

laissance is located on the top of a high ridge, deep in the center of the island of La Gonave. The nearest spring is 7 kilometers away in the village of Nangozen. When it rains in Plaissance, each family collects rainwater. When it doesn't, the 2,100 citizens of Plaissance walk the 7k and collect water from the village of Nangozen. Twelve-year-old Manala told us that she often walks to Nangozen with her donkey at 1 pm, and returns at 5.

When we spoke more school children in Plaissance, we learned that the water in Nangozen is not only far away, it's also overburdened. Often, Jean Louis John told us, the line at Nangozen is so long during the day, that it's impossible to collect water without waiting for hours. Sometimes his mother wakes him up at midnight to collect water when the village of Nangozen is sleeping.

Jean Louis says often children and their mothers in Plaissance walk at night when they have no other choice. He told us that sometimes he trips and falls, spilling all of this water. “I've done that too many times to count,” Jean admitted. He spoke frankly about his schoolwork, “I am so tired, I fall asleep at school.”

Solution: Even though there are no springs nearby, Concern geologist Per Andersson found several underground aquifers that can supply clean water to the entire area. A quick meeting on the island led to a true partnership. Concern Worldwide will purchase a drilling rig for the island, and charity: water will raise funds for the drilling materials. We hope to fund at least 30 wells in this area in 2010, starting in the village of Plaissance and moving west. Thirty wells can help more than 7,500 people, and we'll also fund hygiene and sanitation trainings, ensuring the water stays clean and the projects are managed properly.

- story by: charity: water Programs Director, Becky Straw
- photos by: Esther Havens