Clean water.

Something we all are guilty of taking for granted. Even me, living here, I still have a hard time comprehending how so many people don’t have clean water. People -mostly women and children, are responsible for getting clean water for their families. Some are lucky enough to have a good working hand pump within a short walking distance. Others walk a long way to get that water. And even others, walk long distances for dirty water-the only water they have available to them. The list of sickness caused by drinking unclean water is long, and heartbreaking. It sucks to know people in this country die from preventable diseases, diseases caused because they drink dirty water.

We’ve only been here a month, and are still very much trying to figure what we are doing! For now though, most of what our days include is mapping out where all the pumps are located that Living Water International has fixed thus far. That way, we can figure out what areas and communities they have been working in. The goal then, is to come alongside that community. We want to provide more than clean water-we want to make sure they are hearing the gospel. Almost every village here has a church, so we want them to come alongside us in giving the people clean water, and talk to them about Jesus too. And, if they need more tools to do that, perhaps we can help with that too. In addition, LWI wants health and hygiene to along with the pump repair. Sickness isn’t just caused from drinking dirty water, but not knowing or implementing basic standards of sanitation. Yes, that is a lot LWI and we are aiming for!

In the meantime, we are also going out with the national team as they continue to repair broken pumps. While we work on mapping out communities and getting a game plan going, we can still fix some pumps too. And, it has been so cool to see what the national team does. It typically only takes a few hours to transform a dry broken down pump, into one that gives life giving water once again! The guys that work for LWI know what they are doing, and work together as a team very well. It’s been great to go along as an observer, to see what they do, how the do it.

Here are a few pictures they took. Part of their job is to record a lot of information about the pump. And one thing they do is take pictures. Being the picture freak that I am, I love this! I love that the local guys working are the ones taking photos of the people in the community. And the people react much differently when a fellow Haitian takes their picture, rather than when a “blanc” does! They are way more casual, less intimidated, and more open to taking photos. We just stand back and take it all in. And, since we have to type out all the reports, and transfer all the information, we get access to those photos! It’s like getting great snap shots without all the fuss and hype of taking them myself! I love it! So, here are a few I wanted to share with you…