Another 30 days, another extension! We’ll be continuing our amazing work in Haiti for one more month. Now Project Gonaives will end on Saturday, 28 March 2009. There is still time to join us and volunteer, just contact info@hodr.org.
Meanwhile, here’s an update of our most recent work!
Toujours Labou
On Saturday we completed house #100! We’re still helping to clear the mud that flooded this city over 5 months ago; in addition to helping 310 families return home, we’ve worked on 4 community spaces – a public road, a church, a school, and a youth center.
Thanks to team leaders Gwo Aaron, Aaron UK, Katie, Antonio, Spencer M., Richardson, Cherilus, Robinson, and Luco for their drive to get teams out to work at 7:30AM sharp!
CRS Cash-for-Work
In partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), we launched a cash-for-work program employing 220 people (paid with CRS funding) to clean up small neighborhood streets still filled with mud while creating new drainage canals. As part of our collaboration, CRS hired 3 field coordinators from our pool of local volunteers. Gilbert, Djemson, and Evens demonstrate leadership, compassion, and professionalism while supervising the work in the field. Some of our other local volunteers have been able to enroll as workers in the program as well, thus earning income. HODR project coordinators Jeremey and John oversee this program.
UNICEF Well Masonry Development
For the past two months we prototyped and created a process for producing and installing prefabricated concrete rings, to make platforms for water wells. Conventional well masonry takes about 4 days, with significant materials and expertise. Now our teams can install one well platform in 2 hours! We trained local Oxfam Great Britain (OGB) masons for the production and installation of the rings, and we continue to transfer the technology to other NGOs. This is also an exciting program that we can take with us to future projects. Prototyping, testing, and mass production work under the blazing Haitian sun in our yard was led by Norman, Tamara, Keely, and Autumn – they have the tan-lines to prove it!
Well Masonry Installation
After prototyping and installing our masonry well rings on sites rehabilitated by Oxfam Intérmon (IO), we’ve moved into partnerships with OGB and Action Against Hunger (ACF) to install masonry on their wells. The prefabricated masonry well ring project has proven to not only be a tremendous time-saver. Two teams of HODR volunteers totaling 6 people can install 4 well platforms per day! This is in contrast to other masonry teams creating custom built units at a pace of 1 every 2 days. HODR’s support is helping OGB to complete 80 wells by 24 February, a deadline for their funding. Well installation leaders Ian, Henri, Aaron UK, Huw, and Ton have shown what HODR is capable of doing when given the opportunity to lead.
Well Water Sampling
After rehabilitation (cleaning/disinfection, masonry, plumbing), wells need to be tested to ensure water quality and potability. We began by supporting IO wells, collecting 158 samples over one month; currently we’re assisting ACF and have sampled 81 wells to date. Becky, Laura, Rachel, and Djemson led our efforts to collect samples, check turbidity and conductivity, mark GPS coordinates, and take photos of each site.
SNEP Lab Work
Every afternoon, we also work to organize and support the Gonaives branch of the national water testing lab, providing analysis for all NGOs doing water sampling. Rachel works with lab technician Remy to prep the samples and evaluate color, odor, chlorine, and e. coli levels. This valuable information educates and reinforces homeowners about hygiene and safe water.
We continue to support the Sister of SJA’s free primary school, where volunteers supervised 2 days of uniform fitting and spent 2 days covering schoolbooks. Volunteers also spend their Saturday afternoons at the Ebenezer relocation camp playing soccer, badminton, and trying to keep up with the energy of the children. The UN Community Garden is still growing with HODR volunteers enhancing the soil and placing more plants. We have been commissioned by UNICEF to replace some of the water well pump apparatus installed by other NGO’s. Modifications to the foot valve design (actual mechanism at the bottom of the pipe that lifts the water) has resulted in damage-prone, lower-efficiency pumps. We are inspecting and retro-fitting the units we discover to be of improper standard. House managing and tap-tap wrangling is a logistical challenge at Project Gonaives and we have been fortunate to have volunteers Karen, Suzi, Bex, and now Spencer to help.
*****
In addition to all of the new projects here in Haiti, there have also been big changes at www.hodr.org! We’ve revamped the ‘Shop‘ section so now you can book travel, shop online, or deck your dog out in HODR gear through your favorite regular online vendors. A portion of sales will go towards HODR and Project Gonaives. We’ve also launched a monthly donor campaign, to make supporting HODR an easy part of your routine. Simply sign up once, and we’ll take care of the rest!
With this much activity at Project Gonaives, it was easy to decide to extend our work through March! Thanks to our volunteers and donors for your continued support.
Stefanie Chang
Project Director
Project Gonaives – Haiti
