Physical Health Mexico Project #9428

Fight childhood disease with safe drinking water

by Agua Pura Para El Pueblo

Project Report | Jun 7, 2017
Tackling Cholera Head On in Haiti

By Tom Carter | Executive

Planning for the water laboratory

Two young Haitian men, Hovard and Tatcher, grew up in an era of one national disaster after another. Devastating earthquakes, floods and hurricanes and other problems rocked their country. Throughout it all they kept working to get an education, to improve themselves and to give back to their country. Both trained with Agua Pura in the United States in modern methods of drinking water analysis and water purification before returning home. Then came the cholera epidemic and the battles to save lives, and when they got the call to join the fight they were ready.

Cholera is a bacterial disease mainly spread from drinking water contaminated with feces. However there are many other dangerous diarrheal diseases also caused by contaminated water, and many more Haitians get sick or die of those diseases than from cholera, especially children and older people. Agua Pura has always advocated testing the water for contamination first and then focusing on purifying it, tackling the problem at its source and Hovard and Tacher were well trained to do just that.

A large international aid agency wanted to do a survey of households in the cholera endemic area to check on their health status and Hovard and Tatcher set up a field water testing laboratory to test over 700 water samples in a few weeks time. Because of their training and dedication they had the necessary skills to do the testing. This is the first time a survey of this kind has ever been done, and when they are finished they will have the first ever map of the water quality in the area where the cholera epidemic started. Now agencies can begin to address the real cause of the cholera epidemic, contaminated drinking water.

Hovard and Tatcher are among many hundreds of people all over Latin America and the Caribbean trained by Agua Pura Para El Pueblo to test drinking water for bacterial contamination and to help families purify their water and make it safe to drink. They work in their own communities to prevent disease, and Agua Pura supports their work bringing clean water to “one family at a time”. Your donations keep the programs going, and we are deeply grateful for your help. Thank you.

If you want to continue your support for Hovard’s and Tatcher’s work in Haiti, or one of the many other projects that Agua Pura is doing please consider a donation to our page on Global Giving. We are all volunteers so 100% of your donation goes directly to our work. Thank you very much, and you can also read more about our Haiti project on our website and Facebook page.
Tom Carter

Thanks so much for your support and please contact me directly if you have a question or suggestion: Tom Carter

At work in the laboratory

Testing water for contamination

Links:

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Mar 20, 2017
Clean Water For Haiti

By Thomas Carter | Executive Director

Hovard And His Team

Dear Friends-
A few months ago I wrote about Hovard, a young Haitian man who has started a program of water testing and water purification in his home community near Cap Haitien. There have been Cholera cases in his area and he is working to prevent more. Agua Pura has trained and supported him and provided the supplies for his work. It’s our first project in Haiti and we are proud of Hovard and what he has done.
Now there is an exciting new development to tell you about! Agua Pura Para El Pueblo has been asked to help develop a high volume water pasteurizer that can quickly provide large volumes of purified water - without electricity or expensive equipment. We will be working with Hovard and his team to test it for safety and efficiency. It should be able to provide safe water to many families in his community.
The pasteurizer is a highly efficient wood stove designed by a partner organization, InStove.
The stove uses a flow through coil that sits in a bath of very hot water and as the water passes through it almost immediately reaches a temperature that pasteurizes the water and makes it safe to drink. Then as the water flows out of the pasteurizer it is cooled back to a safe temperature. Special heat sensitive valves open and close to allow only clean drinking water to come out.
Next month Agua Pura will visit Haiti with Hovard to prepare for the pasteurizer. It will need many different things to make it successful but we are convinced it will be a big help to the families facing cholera and other serious diseases from contaminated drinking water. There will still be many other families without access to safe water, but Agua Pura will continue to support them with Water Pasteurization Indicators and other ways to purify their water.
You can read more about this new technology on our website Agua Pura Para El Pueblo and about many of our other programs.

Thank you so much for your support!

Flow Through Pasteurizer

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Dec 27, 2016
Agua Pura goes to Haiti

By Tom Carter | Executive Director

Hovard is a young Haitian who was trained by Agua Pura Para El Pueblo in water testing and purification procedures when he was a student here in the United States. When he returned home to Cap-Haitien he started a very successful recycling and composting business to clean up household garbage and waste that previously was dumped in the street.

Now, Hovard and Agua Pura have started to tackle the problem of contaminated drinking water in Haiti. Thousands of people there, adults and children, have died of Cholera in the last few years, but with simple methods the cholera bacteria in the water can be killed. Agua Pura works at the most basic level, with individual families, to teach them how to protect themselves from disease and give them the supplies they need to stay safe. Over the years we have distributed thousands of Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) that show when water is purified and safe to drink.

First Hovard will test local drinking water supplies including wells and surface waters for contamination. Then with that information he and his staff will conduct community meetings to talk about what people can do to protect themselves against disease. They will also distribute WAPIs and other necessary supplies.

This is an exciting new program for Agua Pura and our first project in Haiti. We are not sure where this will lead but with your help we are committed to help fight cholera and other water borne diseases there. With Hovard we work directly with the families and the children to bring safe water.

Agua Pura gets no government aid and all of our staff are volunteers so your tax deductible donations have a huge impact. Will you help us combat disease and bring healthy drinking water to the families of Haiti? Every donation helps and we are dependent on the support of you and others who believe in us.

If you have supported us in the past and would like to really help further our work, would you consider becoming a regular, recurring monthly donor? Even small regular donations help us to plan ahead and set future goals. This month Global Giving is matching recurring monthly donations to help encourage supporters to make the commitment, so your impact will be even greater.

If you wish I can personally send you a Christmas gift of a Water Pasteurization Indicator so that you can see how they work and how your donation saves children’s lives. Please write and let me know.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you and your family.

Tom Carter tom@aguapuraparaelpueblo.org

Water Pasteurization Indicator

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