Fight childhood disease with safe drinking water

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

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