Author:  Ben Seidl, Program Director

Schools are cosmopolitan meccas for all types of bacteria and viruses.  Whether in the United States, Haiti, Malaysia, or Angola, schools are breeding grounds for a dangerous mix of recurring gastrointestinal illness.  The sheer amount of children with underdeveloped immune systems situated in a small space, sharing food, materials, and sanitation facilities makes for a public health perfect storm. Recent statistics from UNICEF demonstrate that “more than 40 percent of diarrhea cases in schoolchildren result from transmission in schools rather than homes.”  Accordingly, the impact of diarrhea and gastrointestinal illness on education is direct. Students that lack access to adequate sanitation facilities, soap for hand washing, and potable water to drink in schools are exposed and vulnerable to fall sick with parasite infection and diarrheal disease.  These students then miss critical school days, which is exacerbated within education systems that are already underserved and underperforming.  UNICEF also presents a solution to the public health perfect storm in schools that it recognizes: “Hand washing practiced in facilities such as day-care centers and primary schools reduces cases of diarrhea by 30 percent.”  WASH in Schools, otherwise known as water, hygiene, and sanitation services, are therefore an important service to building a healthy and productive student body.

World Water Relief focuses on implementing WASH in Schools projects in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to create a hygienic, healthy, and safe learning environment. Our projects feature safe water, hand washing, and improved sanitation that represent an immense opportunity to reduce the diarrheal illness that millions of students battle every day.  To ensure long-term impact and sustainability of our projects, we especially focus on ensuring that kids bring their lessons beyond the typical classroom.  From engaging students to sing songs about water in the classroom, to teaching parents to practice hygiene at home, to teachers being a role model and washing their hands with students side-by-side, we believe that long-lasting impact occurs when students, teachers, and their parents are all involved.  Instead of seeing the school environment as a dangerous breeding grounds for bacteria, we must embrace the opportunity that this platform provides by improving appropriate WASH infrastructure to vastly improve the overall health and productivity of students around the world.

Sweet Desert-Style Beans – Easter Specialty in the Dominican Republic

From the Bateyes to the homes of the Ricos, you always know when it is Christmas or Easter in the Dominincan Republic.  And if you don’t get offered a serving (or more!) of Habichuelas con Dulce by a friend and/or neighbor, you may want to check if you’ve done something wrong.  It’s a delicious tradition and a wonderful food to eat or to gift.

1.  HABICHUELAS CON DULCE     (SWEET BEANS)

- 1 ½ lb. red beans (habichuelas rosadas)

-  1 ½ lb. Caribbean sweet potato  (patata)

-  1 cup canned Carnation milk  (leche Carnation)

-  1 cup coconut milk  (leche de coco)

-  1 ½ lb. sugar  (azucar)

-  1 tsp. vanilla  (vainilla)

-  1 tsp. salt  (sal)

-  1 tsp. cinnamon

-  1 tsp. ground malagueta (spice similar to nutmeg)

-  1 tbsp. butter  (mantequilla)

-  1 small box raisins  (caja de pasas)

-  salted crackers

Instructions:

1. boil red beans
2. peel and slice sweet potatoes
3. put together in electric blender and liquefy
4. pass liquid beans and sweet potatoes through a strainer &  into a kettle/pot
5. add milk, coconut milk, butter, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, malagueta & sugar
6. set kettle on open fire or stove
7. mix with a spoon until fairly smooth, sweet and creamy
8. add box of raisins
9. before serving, garnish with crumbled crackers

This deliciously sweet and creamy bean and sweet potato recipe can feed a house hold of 8 to 10 people and is a specialty for Easter and Christmas.

Ensalada Ruso  – Russian Salad 

If you are invited to any Dominican home for the holidays, you are sure to encounter Enselada Ruso, or Russian Salad.  Although easy to make, it is often served for special occasions.

LA ENSALADA RUSO (RUSSIAN POTATO SALAD)

-       2 or 3 beats (remolacha)

-       3 large onions (cebolla)

-       1 or 2 medium carrots (zanahoria)

-       7 or 8 medium potatoes (papas)

-       6 regular eggs (juevos)

-       1 tbsp. mayonnaise (mayonesa)

-       1 tbsp. vinegar (vinagre)

-       a pinch of salt (sal)

-       ½ cup sweet corn cooked & strained (maize dulce)

Instructions:

1. peel and boil & slice potatoes
2. hard boil and slice eggs
3. chop the onions to your liking
4. slice carrots
5. slice beats
6. mix ingredients in large salad bowl, adding corn and beats until salad has a red tint.  Chill until serving and enjoy!  Serves 8 to 10.

The day began as it often does on the southwest coast of the Dominican Republic with a brilliant sunrise over the Caribbean, promising another warm and breezy February day.  I left my house in San Rafael and drove the WWR truck south to Los Patos, where Yesenia Perez, our DR Program Director was waiting for me to pick her up.  In addition to being a great community liaison, Yesenia has been teaching the WASH education courses to the students of our project schools.  This was to be my first experience working with her and as we drove along the ocean, we reviewed the plans for the next 2 days.

We arrived at Los Cocos Primeria, just outside of Enriquillo at 9am to an elementary school full of energetic students.    After greetings with the Director and Teachers we began with 5, 20-minute courses in each of the morning classes.  Yesenia, already well-practiced and prepared, jumped right in with an animated explanation of the importance of clean water for our lives.  I was prepared to contribute to the conversations, but after seeing her in action, decided to wait and watch her work her magic with the students.  A charla is the Spanish word for discussion or course.   In each of the 20 minute charlas (about the attention span of an average grade-schooler) she covered the cycle and sources of water, uses of water, how we contaminate it, where bacteria and microbes come from and the good habits of keeping our water clean.   Throughout the explanations she moved about the room with pictures and posters she had made to illustrate the information and keep the attention of the students.   At the end of each course she instructed each child to go home and ask/watch how their mothers prepare and provide water in the household.  Do they clean the dishes and buckets with bleach?  Do they know how to treat the drinking water in their homes?  After the morning school session ended, we took a break for lunch and returned in the afternoon to repeat the charlas with the afternoon classes.

We returned on Day 2 to teach the second portion of WASH information and have a parent/teacher meeting with members of the parent group or PTA.  This was the day to get out of the class and learn about the World Water Relief filtration system and how it brings clean water to the drinking and hand washing stations in the school.  After reviewing the lessons from Day 1, we took the older students into the room where the filtration systems are stored and Yesenia  gave a clear and detailed explanation of the differences between the sediment, carbon and ultraviolet filters and how they all work together to provide the school  with clean, good-tasting water.  She then went on to quiz the students on the information and even had a couple from each class repeat what they had learned to their peers.  In addition, we walked with them along the route of pipes to demonstrate how the water arrives at the drinking/hand-washing stations.   We took the younger students to the stations and gave them a lesson on hand washing with soap and clean water.   This was a delight to see not only the students learning to appreciate the system, but the teachers as well.   Yesenia and I expressed the importance of the teachers as role-models in the school and that hand washing is important for everyone.

After the WASH charlas, we formed a “Club Agua” or Water Club with both the morning students and afternoon students.   We had the kids vote on a president, vice-president, secretary, 2 controllers and 2 soap-keepers.   The function of the clubs will be to maintain the education and enthusiasm of the WASH concept in the future and to keep it as a continuing theme and habit in the students’ lives.

The last item of business was an after-school meeting with the parent organization and teachers of the school.  Not only does WWR provide the clean, filtered water to the schools but also to the communities.  The meeting was an opportunity to explain that the water station near the entrance to the school was for community use.  The parents were also given a tour of the filtration system and how it feeds clean water to the drinking stations.    We explained to the parents that they were the role models at home and the importance of treating their drinking water and keeping dishes, buckets and any vessels used for water in general clean.  Our Project Engineer, Dan Nolen who orchestrated the entire installation process, attended the meeting, along with our partners from EGE Haina.  Haina has formed a group of peer educators and it is called the “Protectores de Agua”.  Because the project installation was a joint effort with Haina, the Protectores de Agua will take over the Club Agua activities with this school in the future.   Two representatives were present to meet and greet the students, faculty and parents of the school.

By the end of Day 2 Yesenia and I were exhausted but smiling with a sense of achievement.   On our sunset drive along the coast back to Barahona we reflected on the good turn-out and involvement of the parents and teachers in the community as well as the enthusiasm and gratitude of the students for providing this system to the school and town.

Personally, I was extremely impressed with what a great WASH instructor Yesenia is and what an asset she is to World Water Relief.    I am left with a head full of ideas on how to enhance the future WASH courses with more visual aids, games and creative enrichment tools.   In closing, I’d like to say; “coming soon to all World Water Relief project sponsored schools – Club Agua Summer Camp!”  Look for more posts and pictures in the future.

By: Rowen Jin, Project Manager; World Water Relief

Sitting cramped between the driver and Solo on the van to Port-Au-Prince, I complained again, “Twop cho.” Too hot. Sweat poured down my back. Thoughts ran through my head about the miserable week I have had in Mirebalais – Town ATM machine is down again? Why is there no quiet place to work in this town? I hope there is running water in the house again. I looked glumly at the dusty road, hoping that the AC will turn on soon.

Solo, who was sitting next to me, leaned out the window and yelled at a friend of his, “Hey big man, how’s it goin’?” Sitting there, with his big stomach resting on his suitcase, sweating into the car seat, Solo seemed invincibly positive. I have been working with him over the past several months. He shows up early to the project every morning, huffing, sweating, and smiling. We began talking. Somehow, the subject got to the earthquake that rocked Haiti in 2010.

“I had a business and three-story house before the earthquake, you know. I lost almost thirty-eight thousand dollars.” He said. I was shocked. He now works for me for a monthly wage. “Thirty-eight thousand?!” “Yes. But at least we are all here. My daughter was picked up by my friend from her school less than two minutes before it hit. Two minutes. Her school fell.  All of the kids died. Her best friend died.” I sat silent, not sure how to respond.

“The third story of my house fell. Kaput. The second story fell. Kaput. All onto the first floor, where we were. We just held each other and prayed that our daughter was okay. We were ready to go. Just to see that she was okay. We were in there for ten hours, before they got us out. It was night when we came out. We couldn’t reach our daughter because there was no cell phone tower. All chaos. Bodies on the street, like they were trash.”

It’s been more than two years after the earthquake. Although there are reminders of the earthquake throughout the island, the most dramatic of them are now gone or tucked away into corners of society. I go through most of my days here not remembering what the Haitian people had to go through little more than two years ago. Solo’s story is not unique. Many who live in Mirebalais moved here from Port-au-Prince after the earthquake and have similar stories. It humbled me and reminded me, again, of the importance of my work.

This summer, we have been focusing our attention on two schools, Caprofors and Sacre Coeur.  These schools were supported by the generosity of Primerica African American Leadership Council and H2O for Life.  Although located not far from each other, the two schools are drastically different from each other. Caprofors is a technical school of 1000 students with a regular shortage of water. Their rainwater harvesting system only provides them with water when it rains. Chantal Provencio, the school director, has many ambitious goals for Caprofors – one of which is bringing clean water to the school so they are not constantly stretched to find water. As we speak, we are adding the finishing touches to the project. Next week, the students will have clean water to drink and wash their hands with.

Sacre Coeur holds two separate sessions and serves as a school for elementary and high school kids. Unlike Caprofors, they have regularly piped city water, but most of the children still purchase bag water to drink. The main focus of our Sacre Coeur project, however, will be their latrines, which are in drastically unsanitary conditions. By remodeling their latrines, installing filtration systems, and providing hygiene education, we hope to improve the health of these two schools.

The earthquake has left an indelible mark on Haiti. As an organization, we thank you for your continued support over the years to help Haiti on its path of recovery. Recent reports have shown that many aids efforts have taken leave from Haiti – the initial surge of interest in Haiti after the earthquake have slowly petered off and the world has turned its attention elsewhere. Haiti’s recovery, however, is far from being complete. The current hurricane season has brought the resurgence in the cholera epidemic. Our work in the central plateau, where cholera once began, remains incredibly relevant in creating a sustainable system for prevention of future tragedies, like the cholera epidemic.

Even though Ben and Rowen were no longer in Haiti, my hope was that between our local on-the-ground staff Jean Baptiste and Albert “Solo” Juin, the school administrators and school children that the story would tell itself.   My hope was that my presence would be needed only to fill in the background story, and answer some philosophical questions about the NGO presence in Haiti, where the money is going and how small organizations like ours can fit into the solution of a problem as large as the ones facing the people of Haiti.

The trip also promised to be a great opportunity for me to visit all of our Haiti projects.  I feel that it’s impossible for me to lead this organization effectively without having had the experience of standing in St. Pierre’s school, drinking the water, listening to the challenges that our guys face every day, talking to the children and putting all of that together in a way that no report could ever do.

So, how did it go?

Well, the Newshour team is a great group.  They tell the stories that rarely get told from corners of the world where most journalistic lights rarely shine.  I rarely watch TV, but with their professionalism and approach they found a new viewer.  They have some great stories, and hearing those stories made me feel very lucky that they found ours worthy of being highlighted.  We are a small part of Mirebalais tale, but with all that is going on there, we are in good company and I for one am excited to see the final result of the show, which should be airing soon.  It should be noted that the fact we are in this position is a testament to the donors who have dedicated themselves to funding our work in a part of the world where it is extremely challenging and outcomes aren’t always guaranteed.  We will continue to honor that dedication with a determination of own; a determination to work hard and accept failure very reluctantly.

That brings me to my assessment of our systems in Haiti.  We started installing permanent systems in Haiti in the summer of 2010, more than two years ago.  The first two systems we installed are still up and running.  We know from data compiled by the World Health Organization that less than 1% of water systems installed are ever checked on again by the organization that implements them so you can imagine how many systems are still up and running after two years.  The answer is very few.  Are our systems perfect?  No.  Do the guys have to fight hard, work hard and keep a near constant vigil on things to keep things running so that the children in these schools have access to clean water?  Yes.  But that is what has always separated this organization from the others.  We are determined to do what is necessary to ensure that each and every system we install continues to work.  To do any less would be a waste of a lot of time, energy and resources.

Just as fast as I got to Mirebalais, I turned around and came right back to St. Simon’s Island.  What the trip lacked in time, it certainly made up in substance.  In addition to the PBS piece and the detailed review of our Haiti projects I got to spend time with Dan Nolan, our Dominican Project Director and see him in his element.  Dan has done great work for us, and the more time I spend with Dan in country the more convinced I am of his value to our organization and his competence in the field.  I also got to see Jean Baptiste and Solo again.  It had been too long, but both looked great and it was still obvious to me that both continued to have passion for the work they were doing.  And lastly I got to ride in the back of the truck through a country that I love.  The Hispaniola humidity and sunshine is always good for me and this trip was no difference.  It’s good for the soul.

Kevin M. Fussell, MD
President, BOD
World Water Relief

I received a frantic call the other day from Wilson, one of our maintenance leaders from the project site El Campo in Juancho, Dominican Republic. He was concerned because the drinking station we recently installed had two broken spigots. Apparently, a goat decided to take his afternoon nap on top of the drinking station and his dismount proved fatal to the precarious spigots. I arrived at the site to find a trail of goat hair on the drinking station, and a proud goat strutting around the village, gloating over his vandalism. We repaired the spigots with some reinforced tubing and added standing branches to the outside of the drinking station to act as a fence, in hopes of deterring any future naps. So far, there have been no further destructive goat siestas.

In the field of development work, to say there is volatility is an understatement. There are a few best practices that we try to institute to ensure the long-term success of each project: community ownership, sustainability, student club organizations, and project leader development. All of these can be enormously beneficial when applied to certain projects; however, pursuing one pre-determined plan doesn’t allow for each community’s unique institutions to organically support the project. For example, if there are a few dominant matriarchs in a small village, their acting as the leaders of the water committee prove more beneficial than instituting a standard governance model. To understand these institutions requires developing relationships with the community, which often take significant time and patience to materialize. The turnover of a project might not be as immediate, but it is the best way to ensure that the project will be more prepared for unexpected difficulties, such as a napping goat

We are dropped off just near the Mirebalais town square. Founded in 1703, Mirebalais is a middle-income town with a population of around 9,000.  I take note of how similar the town is to those of most African medium-sized towns with its road side ‘street-meat’ vendors, fresh fruit stands, infinite scooter taxis and a continuous buzz of pedestrians out and about on their daily routines. Rowen and I grab a quick bite where we discuss the activities of the days ahead and turn in for the evening.

The morning begins with a wonderful breakfast at Caprofors. Our table is at a central location outdoors surrounded by scurrying chickens, the nice women who do the cooking and several hungry yet polite dogs; we overlook the town of Mirebalais and are situated within a stone’s throw of one of the 3 WWR water stations. Caprofors is a local technical college offering students courses in nursing, plumbing, constructions and photography. Solo, as Albert is called, and Jean-Baptiste teach English and Art, respectively.  Solo, who seems to know everyone in town, ironically got his nick-name as a young child because he always played by himself.  Our tea, bread, peanut butter and scrambled eggs were quickly consumed and we headed to EFACAP to paint the WWR water station.

Our efforts to spread the word about how important clean water is, and therefore, how critical it is to respect these water stations in the schools still has a long way to go. Upon arrival, teens in the EFACAP summer camp are lounging on top of the station, resting their arms and legs on the spigots. We shoo the kids away, manage to scrap and sand down a good portion of the station and begin to apply a fresh coat of paint.

After nearly one-half of the surfaces are painted and the team of Solo, JB, Rowen and myself are covered in paint we break for a late lunch. We leave Gabriel to finish painting the base of the station. Gabriel helps out around the school and has been assisting us throughout the day with materials and offers to pitch in with a paintbrush while we break. Deal!

Back at Caprofors for lunch, we discover we have a conflict that must be smoothed over. One of our local maintenance/construction men   has asked for more money to finish a job which should have been completed with the materials already procured and the time already passed.  Basically, because foreigners (e.g. Rowen and I, the Americans!) are involved, the price goes up. Unfortunately, this is a common practice in some parts of the world. In Haiti, the term, “blan” affectionately refers to foreigners borrowing from the French term ‘blanc’ for white.

Problem solved with the help of Chantal, the Director at Caprofors, we return to EFACAP for a nice surprise.   Gabriel has finished the base of the WWR water station in a nice coat of green and all that is left to do is the WWR logo and part of the tower.

Rowen and I leave Solo and JB on the task while we take time to visit several of the other sites in town where WWR is present.  We visit, St. Lucienne, St. Pierre, Sacre-Coeur and Lycee. The Sacre-Coeur station is yet to be built and we are still contemplating the final solution design.

The absolutely horrible conditions that are in place today for the latrines will be replaced by new WWR facilities. This work should be completed by September 2012.

After we have completed our tour of the sites, we return to EFACAP to clean up and close down our work there.  To help our productivity, we solicit the help of a young boy who has been curiously watching us all day in our efforts. We ask if he can find a ladder for us and less than 5 minutes after dashing into the neighborhood our little helper appears toting a ladder twice the size of him on his head!  We wrap up, exhausted from the day and head home to freshen up.

That evening for dinner, the four WWR ‘paint crew’ head out on the town. We sample the local Haitian chicken, Bouillon stew with goat and drink their delicious local beer, Prestige, and rum, Barbancourt. Our discussions over dinner covers “Sweet Micky” the affectionate nick-name of the former musician now president, male versus female cooks in the kitchens and restaurants of the US and Haiti, and earthquake relief.  I introduce them to the lovely term, ‘sky juice’ which I picked up on a trip to Bequia, near St. Vincent.  The juice of the sky being the precious water we are tirelessly preaching about to the folks of Mirebalais. Half of this dinner time chat was conducted in the dark during a loss of electricity without missing a beat.

In the morning, we have a late start running errands before heading to Caprofors for lunch.  We make final preparations for Global Kids’ arrival the next day. Solo has invited us to join him on his weekly radio show teaching English to listeners to discuss WWR and other topics of interest. We catch a scooter taxi to his studio and have a blast discussing the importance of water and our efforts in Haiti.

After this, we decide to take some R&R and head into the countryside to visit a beautiful waterfall high in the mountains called Saut
D’eau which has significant cultural relevance. For us, it was a nice way to cool down for the day.  

The ‘Day of Service’ includes Global Kids (www.globalkids.org) and the English Club which Solo leads and our own Samual Marseille as a member. The GK buses arrive several hours late, with the GKers tumbling out looking crushed after the ~4 hour journey from Jacmel in the south.  We conducted brief introductions and headed out for a tour of the Partners in Health hospital under construction (http://www.pih.org/) just next door to Caprofors.  Back on site, the kids eat co-mingled, and conduct a few activities including painting and sanding the water station on site and making local arts and crafts. We facilitate a summary discussion on the day’s events and contemplated how to change the country, “If I were president for a day”. We said our good byes and the kids loaded on to the bus with friendships made and contact details exchanged. We cleaned up and head out to enjoy my last taste of local culinary delights.

In the morning, I say my good-byes and JB and I cram into a local bus that takes us back to the airport. Sadly, no scooter ride on the way back!  JB and I bid farewell and I tell him to keep his “heart in his art” and he heads off to run errands in Port-au-Prince for WWR.  I waded back into the chaos of the airport and finally settle into my seat. The flight attendant comes down the aisle and offers me a beverage.

“Water, please.”

This class featured several students from Batey Cuchilla (where WWR has installed a WASH in Schools project), teachers and school directors from the local community.

Over the course of the week, we learned tricks about water conservation, the local environment and how to protect it, facts about diseases common to the area, and many other things.  We also learned fun, interactive games to teach children hygiene education and tested the local water supply.

My favorite activity we learned was “about poo-lución.”  In this game, our instructor, Maria,  demonstrated how easy it is to spread germs when someone does not wash their hands thoroughly with soap after using the restroom.  The instructor sprinkled glitter over one student’s hands, and that student then walked around the class and shook hands and patted people on the back.  By the time the student had reached the other side of the classroom, everyone was covered in germs…I mean glitter…and the importance of hand washing was demonstrated in a simple, engaging and visual manner.

Thanks to this class, we now have a number of new tools in our bag of tricks, and we cannot wait to teach water education to the students at our newly completed projects.

The Plaisance WASH project involves three separate schools that share a common well: St. Vincent de Paul, Pere Periare, and Notre Dame. Prior to the installation of the systems, the schoolchildren often had to bring drinking water from home or drink improperly treated water at school. Lunch at school was made with untreated water from the contaminated well. The bathrooms were seldom cleaned. The schools, already financially stretched, often had difficulties purchasing gasoline for the electricity needed to pump enough water for all needs. As a result of all of these difficulties, children were often sick with stomach aches, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal diseases. Our WASH project set up hand washing stations at the bathrooms, brought clean water to the kitchens and drinking fountains, and created more sanitary bathroom situations for the children.