Les Anglais, Haiti
Working for Clean Water and Adequate Sanitation
in Les Anglais, Haiti
| Location: | Les Anglais, Haiti |  |
| Current Scope: | Drinking Water Treatment and Supply Sanitation Planning and Design | |
| Next Meeting: | Check the calendar for our next meeting | |
| Status: | Design and planning for early 2013 trip | |
| Contact: | haitilead@ewbportland.org |
See our mention on the State Department's website in their article,
"Clean Water Means Better Health"
Program BackgroundIn 2008 the Portland Professionals chapter of EWB was contacted by a local church, Our Saviors Lutheran Church (OSLC) in Lake Oswego, OR, to improve drinking water in the community of Les Anglais, at the southwest tip of Haiti. OSLC has been active in this community for over 20 years and noticed that many diseases affecting the residents were the result of unclean drinking water. They introduced us to a local NGO, Passion For Haiti, with whom we have been working ever since. To date, the Haiti program has installed two chlorinators on pre-existing piped water systems and is expanding into improved latrine designs. |  |
Les Anglais is a coastal town which contains approximately 12,000 people, with about 40,000 total in the district. The town is an 8-hour drive from Port-au-Prince and did not experience any direct effects from the 2010 earthquake, however in the aftermath the population swelled as many people moved back from Port-au-Prince. This has put additional stress on the local water and sanitation systems, compounded by the national cholera epidemic. Though the effects of cholera are widely felt in the area around Les Anglais, the good news is that nobody with access to chlorinated water has died of the disease. Our goal in the community is to educate, train, and empower local residents to confront water-borne illnesses and ensure a healthy future.
Volunteers in our group come from a range of disciplines, each of which adds important new perspectives to the project. We have had agricultural, civil, electrical, environmental, mechanical, structural, and transportation engineers; dietitians and public health professionals; photographers; GIS mappers; and others. Whatever your area of expertise your efforts will be greatly appreciated. Please contact haitilead@ewbportland.org to find out how you can volunteer.
Past and Present Efforts in Les AnglaisEWB-USA Portland's program in Les Anglais has since completed several phases of implementation and expanded into two separate projects, the original water project and a newer project focusing on sanitation. Read more about these projects and our project trips at the links below.