Alexandra Servil is a 16 year old high school student who resides in the locality of Lina which is in the St. Raphael commune in northeast Haiti. She lives with her parents, two sisters, and three brothers.
The closest water source for her family was from a stream called Gadete that is a 45 to 60 minute walk from their home. The stream is not only unregulated in terms of potability of the water, but also can be very challenging to access during the rainy season. When it rains, roads can become muddy and difficult to traverse. The risk of slipping or falling is very high. Furthermore, the rain can increase contamination in the stream, so people’s health is at risk from drinking from its water. Often, Alexandra tries to spend her vacation time in Cap Haitien where there is a slightly better chance of accessing water.
This past year she learned about a program offered by Haiti Outreach. The goal of this initiative was to rehabilitate an existing well in Lina. Alexandra was both skeptical and excited about the new change. Having clean water close to home would have a major impact on her and her family’s lives. Having a well close to home would allow her and her siblings to spend more time on their studies,miss fewer school days, and have more time to do their homework. Additionally, she could enjoy staying in her community during her vacations! Alexandra quickly reached out to her parents and friends, and exclaimed, “This year 2021 my vacation will be in Lina!” Indeed this year, she took advantage of reliving the beautiful memories of the past that she enjoyed so much as a young girl.
This new well for her community not only greatly improved Alexandra’s life, but also the other people in her community. There used to be a division between rural and urban communities due to a prejudice that rural communities are more simple minded and poorer than urban communities. Having clean water helps shift this divide as it opens up the door for children to further their education and parents to have more time to work on other tasks. This is one major step towards the transformation and development of the community of Lina.
