| Population: 1,975 people | Partner: Concern Worldwide |
| GPS: 18.808167, -72.958467 | Cost: $115,880 |
| Intervention: Spring Protection piped down to 2 tap stands. The community will construct 350 latrines. | |
ituated high in the hills on the island of La Gonave flows a spring called Tisous. The name of this
spring, which provides abundant water to three communities on the island, means “Little Spring” in Creole.
Concern Worldwide tested the spring and found remarkable purity and quality.
“This might be the best spring I've ever tested in my career,” marveled 60-year-old Water and Sanitation Engineer, Per Anderrson.
We hiked up to Materre, the community located on the ridge of the spring and met a group of young men idly sitting in a circle of plastic lawn chairs. They looked like bored teenagers. Some kicked dust with their feet. Others slouched down in their chairs, arms crossed, pretending to sleep. The most talkative man in the group was 28-year-old Denev Edmond. Denev had just completed his Information Technology degree in Port-au-Prince, thanks to tuition from his older sister, who is a nurse in Florida.
Denev was searching for a job in the capital when the earthquake hit. He spent the next two nights sleeping in a tent made of sheets in his brother's backyard, praying that there would be no rain. He left Port-au-Prince and headed back to his mother's house on the island, sailing in a boat that carried five dead bodies. He said solemnly, “I thought it was the end of the world.”
Before the quake, many families on the island saved all they could to send a child to school in Port-au-Prince. They believed that if their children could graduate and get a good job, the money they sent home could help rescue the family from extreme poverty. Now throughout the island, all the children are back home. They are smart, educated, and they have nothing to do. Before we got up to leave Denev asked us, 'Hey, I have my degree. Maybe one of you could hire me?”
SOLUTION: The spring at Tisous has the potential to serve all three communities and deliver enough clean water for its 2,000 residents. We watched in awe as 5-gallon buckets were filled every 24 seconds. Through our local partner, Concern Worldwide, we plan to capture this spring to prevent contamination. They'll then build a tap at the spring source for the community living nearby. A diversion will bring water downhill to another tap serving the two communities below. All three villages will receive latrines and hygiene education.
- story by: charity: water Programs Director, Becky Straw
- photos by: Esther Havens