World Water Relief’s efforts focus on WASH IN SCHOOLS – a comprehensive approach to water, sanitation and hygiene education. Our current commitment is to the people of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Dominican Republic
In the southwestern area of the Dominican Republic, along the border with Haiti, are Haitian refugee and sugar cane worker camps called bateyes. There are currently eighteen bateyes along the border and hundreds more around the country, each housing between 1,500 to 3,500 people. Living conditions for these workers and their families are deplorable. Shelters are sparse and in disrepair, and they are denied many of the primary needs for survival, most importantly safe water for drinking and sanitation needs. Working with local schools and organizations, World Water Relief is bringing safe water and new hope to the bateyes.
We began our work in Batey 7. Upon installation of our system, 2,900 men, women and children now have access to safe drinking water. The video below details life in the bateyes, and the beginning of a transformation for Batey 7. Since 2012, we have committed to implementing WASH projects in the Dominican Republic which will provide access to over 15,000 people- mostly children, at their rural schools and communities.
World Water Relief currently has a presence in seven bateyes in the Dominican Republic.
Haiti
World Water Relief has been working in the central plateau of Haiti since July 2009, with the completion of a safe water project in the rural town of Mirebalais. When the earthquake hit in January 2010, we stepped-in to help. With strong in-country contacts, prior experience and emergency-designed portable filtration equipment, World Water Relief was able to mobilize a strong and rapid response team to the disaster. As conditions stabilized and the situation turned from emergency to rebuilding, World Water Relief returned to the central plateau region and northern areas to concentrate on what we do best – long-term, sustainable development.
Working with the Minister of Education and the Mayor of Mirebalais, a strategic plan was developed to bring water filtration projects to three large schools in the town of Mirebalais soon after the earthquake. Children in these schools were drinking highly-contaminated water and their sanitation facilities were unusable. The most important aspect of our safe water school project is our hygiene education courses providing students with the knowledge, skills and motivation to improve their health. With these abilities in hand, students then become agents of change in their community…sparking the beginning of real, generational change.
