What is the Current Water Crisis in Haiti?
If you keep up with the news, you know the island nation of Haiti is no stranger to its share of recent misfortunes. The people of Haiti are still recovering from the tragically devastating earthquake in 2010, even on top of already struggling previously. In the wake of this disaster, the water crisis in Haiti is more serious than ever. Water supplied from rivers is highly contaminated, and water infrastructure providing piped water to homes is left damaged with no funding for repairs. On top of that, many cannot afford water services, living off an average of less than the equivalent of three U.S. dollars a day. These water services are only intermittently available in the first place, where a lot of work will be needed to restore infrastructure, with help from the government. We will look at how natural disasters, lack of hygiene education, and disease all contribute to the Haiti water crisis and how our organization, Healing Waters International, can help a nation in need of clean water so they can learn to thrive.
Diseases
With waterborne illnesses accounting for half the deaths in the country every year, the issues with contaminated water in Haiti are extremely evident. Cholera outbreaks are fairly common due to damaged water infrastructure vital to cleaning contaminated water and heavy rains that allow contaminated water to seep into clean water sources. Contaminated water invites diseases like cholera to spread, something people in developed nations are likely to never experience. Typhoid and diarrhea can also be fatal when the infected person becomes dehydrated. These illnesses impact children the most, with the nation, unfortunately, having one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.
Water-related diseases halt progress in developing nations, forcing parents and children to stay home from school and work so they cannot receive a proper education or living wage. Poverty is often linked to poor health, and it all starts with a lack of clean water.
Sanitation
Due to a high number of catastrophic events, the existing sanitation infrastructure, in poor condition to begin with, is now more dire than before. As mentioned above, the number of disease outbreaks has only increased in the main part because of the dire condition of sanitation infrastructure. Although the government has placed focus on providing toilets and handwashing facilities in public spaces, only about a quarter of the population has access to a toilet.
And while millions of households are encouraged to create their own toilets or sanitation systems, they are often unfamiliar with proper sanitation procedures.
The spread of disease starts to slow as more people in the nation learn how to correct unhygienic behaviors. The World Bank provided emergency outreach to millions of people, including giving doctors the tools to teach others the importance of proper hygiene. Sanitation infrastructure and clean water only go so far when the populace lacks the knowledge of why contaminated water and lack of handwashing is dangerous. Our staff at Healing Waters go above and beyond to make sure we provide health and hygiene training to the people of the community after we implement our clean water solutions. We ensure leaders of the area pass on this knowledge to future generations to continue a healthier cycle of cleaner living.
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With your support, we can continue to expand our reach and provide safe water solutions to more communities around the world.
Government
The government has made it a goal to rid the country of cholera outbreaks, launching plans to create campaigns informing the people of sanitation procedures and investing in water and sanitation facilities. Emergency assessments of the current state of clean water resources help the government define where help is needed the most. Working together with donors, the Haitian government aims to spread awareness and truly create concrete plans to invest in clean water solutions.
Natural Disasters
Due to its location, Haiti experiences an abnormal number of natural disasters. Unfortunately, with the nation already being one of the poorest in the world, these incidents have become even more costly than they would for a developed country. There aren’t many people who are not aware of the catastrophic earthquake that took hundreds of thousands of lives back in 2010. Even after all these years, the nation is still attempting to recover, with no help from tropical storms and other earthquakes in the years since. Even as there have been strides to regain their footing, extreme weather events like heavy rains from storms keep setting back progress. Haiti still needs aid, and with the help of organizations, the government, and the people working together, we can keep providing millions of citizens with help, where the most important need starts with clean water for Haiti.
Facts About the Haiti Water Crisis
- Startlingly, over half the rural population of Haiti does not have access to clean water. As is typical in any region of the world, rural areas see the most struggle when it comes to receiving clean water or seeing investments in the infrastructure of the area.
- Access to clean water has actually decreased over the past few decades, where only half the people of the country have access to clean water, down from 60% before the turn of the century.
- The sanitation situation is similar, where access to sanitation facilities has only increased by 1%.
Healing Waters Haiti Water Crisis Solutions
The amount of clean water in Haiti seems dire, but as awareness rises, solutions come as well. Our mission at Healing Waters is to provide clean water for all. Our projects in Haiti and other parts of the world have impacted the lives of thousands of people in communities of all sizes. We provide aid by installing clean water filtration systems in the areas that need it most, educating the populace on staying healthy, and empowering locals by teaching them how to run their own water businesses. If you’re wondering how you can help us on our mission, contact us today for more information, donate to our cause, or join our Saturate community.