hai5249 annual report.rd4 - Haiti Outreach

THE COMMUNITY WATER COMMITTEE
STANDS IN FRONT OF THE NEW WELL IN
THE RURAL COMMUNITY OF PUITS DE LABY
Children pumping clean water from a
new well built as part of the safe
water plus program
Collaborating with World Vision and the
Minnesota Rotary
In 2002, Haiti Outreach and the Minnesota Rotary were essentially
unaware of each other. But in a remarkably serendipitous event some
might say was divinely guided, these neighbors were brought together by
an international relief and development organization: World Vision. All
three organizations share an interest in bringing clean water to third world
countries.
Haiti Outreach, Minnesota Rotary District #5950 (since joined by #5960)
and World Vision have now completed the first year of a three-year
contract to drill 75 new wells and rehabilitate 66 water systems in some of
the most isolated parts of Haiti. When completed, this project is expected to
bring clean water to an estimated 42,000 people.
Here’s how our collaboration came about. The Minnesota Rotary had
pledged $1 million to the organization that would most effectively develop
water resources in a poor country. Because of our past work together on
well and road projects, World Vision contacted Haiti Outreach late in 2002
to work out a joint submission, called the Haiti Safe Water Plus Project.
World Vision was awarded the grant, subcontracting much of the work to
Haiti Outreach as planned.
The amazing coincidence is that Haiti Outreach and the Minnesota Rotary
are literally in each other’s backyard – both are based in Minneapolis. Since
discovering each other, we have been in frequent communication about this
and other potential projects. Rotarians are traveling with us to Haiti to see
the work and conditions firsthand.
Partnership among non-governmental organizations is a growing trend in
third-world development, as each organization contributes its particular
expertise toward more successful projects. Haiti Outreach has been
partnering like this since our first project, the Bohoc water system, in 1998.
Our flood relief work in Gonaives is another example. We expect this
cooperation will continue and expand in our future work.
Clean water in the wake of deadly floods in Gonaives
The torrential rains of Hurricane Jeanne in mid-September and Haiti’s extreme deforestation combined for a devastating flood that
affected over 100,000 people in and around the city of Gonaives. It swept over 2,000 people to their death. It damaged or destroyed 75% of
the housing. And it put the city water system out of commission by damaging pipes and destroying two large pumps. Without city water,
people drank the muddy flood waters to survive.
Haiti Outreach immediately sent its water truck, normally used in well-drilling operations, to haul in 150,000 gallons of clean water over
the next two months. In addition, Haiti Outreach Country Director Neil Van Dine offered his assistance to the Haitian government's
potable water department.
As a result, a collaboration of four organizations – Haiti Outreach, OXFAM, IOM
(International Organization for Migration) and the Canadian government –
engaged in a $150,000 project to get the city water system back online.
Neil researched possible solutions, and came up with specifications for new pumps.
He selected two 60hp submersible pumps capable of delivering over 1,000 gpm
each into the city water system, at a cost of about $18,000 US each. IOM and
OXFAM provided funding to buy the pumps at a reduced cost from a dealer in
California. They were shipped in aboard MFI airlines, along with replacement
valves for the city water lines. The timing was tight: the last of the boxes for the
pumps came into Cap Haitian the same day the installers flew into Port au Prince.
Jim Kirzeder, Ronald Ringhand and Neil Van Dine spent the next 10 days
installing the pumps and sorting out the antiquated electrical system feeding the
pumps, which Hydro-Quebec International helped repair. They finished the
project on January 26, 2005, with the water system pumping over a million gallons
the first day.
Debris fills the streets of gonaives as flood
water recedes
A growing presence in Haiti
Proud to be a local employer
Haiti Outreach is proud of our 15 hardworking employees – 13
of them Haitian – who manage the organization, do the
community development work, drill the wells, do the
accounting, repair our vehicles and perform many other jobs.
Below we highlight two of them:
Country Director
Neil Van Dine
Words cannot
describe the amount
of commitment,
creativity and drive
Neil Van Dine
possesses. Our guiding model of sustainable community
development was derived from Neil’s years of grassroots
experience in Haiti.
Neil’s commitment to the Haitian people began when he first
visited there at 19. At age 23 in 1989, he moved to Haiti
permanently and built his own small home with no running
water and only a backyard latrine. He knew that if he was to
earn the respect and attention of the Haitian people, he had to
live as they did.
Neil started with Haiti Outreach in 1997. Before that, he drilled
wells for philanthropist Jay Lawhon, started a handyman school
and worked for the International Office of Migration. In all the
years Neil has been in Haiti, he estimates he has participated in
the digging of wells or creation of water systems affecting
300,000 people.
With his wife Mizou, Neil lives near the town of Pignon and has
three children: Venans, Ken and Lauren. Neil runs the entire
operation of Haiti Outreach in Haiti, and we are privileged to
have his tireless leadership.
Project Supervisor
Roge Michel
Five years ago, Roge
Michel was the second
employee to join Haiti
Outreach. Hired as an
“animator,” the
Haitian term for project coordinator, Roge soon earned more
responsibility as a project supervisor. Roge has training in
agriculture, communications and community development. In
the 1990s, he worked with Neil at ADRA (Adventist
Development and Relief Association). When ADRA closed its
operation in Haiti, Neil hired Roge. Ever since, he has managed
projects and developed community work with great skill.
Roge has seen many improvements achieved by our work in Haiti:
improvements in people’s wealth, school attendance and quality of
homes. Most importantly, he sees communities organizing
themselves and individuals taking greater responsibility for their
own lives and their communities. He even believes there is less
crime when communities are more active.
At 42, Roge lives in the town of Hinche with his wife Muliette and
their daughter Rossinie (13) and son Roggery (5). In his spare time,
he enjoys music, soccer and watching videos. He is pleased to
work for Haiti Outreach, and we are happy to have such a
talented and hardworking man so committed to developing
communities.
Answering a long-awaited call for
a building
In 2003, it became apparent that the growth of our community
development work required an increasing number of vehicles and
personnel. We had been operating out of Neil Van Dine’s home
and storage building, which he and his family graciously allowed.
It was long past time for us to let the Van Dines enjoy the privacy
of their own home and yard.
Haiti Outreach purchased some land near the Pignon airport and,
early in 2004, started to erect a building that should serve us for
many years. In the spring, board member Jim Kirzeder led a
Minnesota construction crew that worked alongside Haitians to
complete the basic work on the structure, including the difficult
job of putting on the roof. We dug a well and built a separate
small building to house the diesel-powered electrical generator.
The new building has four major uses:
• Storage for equipment and vehicle parts
• Vehicle repair in a large open area
• Office
• Classroom space for a future technical school
We designed the building to allow for a second floor to be added
in the future, when the need arose. By the end of 2004, that need
was already clear. The space will be used for the offices of the
Haitian microlending bank Fonkoze.
The headquarters has already proven extremely useful to the
operations of Haiti Outreach. It allows us to operate much more
efficiently as we carry out our mission.