Alteus Limina is a 58 year old husband and father of 7 children, 5 girls and 2 boys who resides in Haut Wesh in the 1st communal section of the Wesh Commune of Capotille, North East Department, Haiti. Alteus earns his living as a farmer and natural healer. He used natural plants to treat illnesses.
His family used to walk very far to gather water from a dirty river, but the time to gather it was preventing him from cultivating his garden, seeing his patients, and was causing his children to be late to school. To save time, he worked out a deal with a neighboring community to pay 5 gourdes* per 5 gallons of water from a well that Haiti Outreach had drilled. The walk was much closer and they were thrilled to have clean water for consumption, bathing, and irrigation of his crops. However, this did not help his children arrive at school on time because they still had to wait for the subscribers from the community to fill their buckets. Furthermore, they knew it was not really fair to buy from their neighbors as it technically did not belong to his community.
One day, he was invited to a public meeting led by the local water authorities where he learned that his community could request their own well from Haiti Outreach. Seeing the value of a well closer to home, he rallied his community and submitted a proposal to Haiti Outreach to have their own well. Overjoyed he exclaimed, “I was so surprised that I volunteered to participate in the management committee! During the drilling, I worked with the technicians to help move along the process faster.” He now serves as the Chairman of the Haut Wesh Community Well Committee.
Their well was inaugurated in March and he and his family could not be happier! He shared, “Today, more than ever, I have a happy heart because in my area we have a drinking water pump. I will work with the other members of the committee for the [maintenance] of this well to be successful. Now, I have hope that my children will arrive on time for school and my wife will find water more easily to prepare food for the family. I am very happy to offer all my time to serve my community!”
The community of Haut Wesh is so grateful to have this opportunity, but they have not stopped dreaming! Their vision is to further develop their water system to include submersible pumps on the well to make it possible for everyone to have direct water access from their home. Their goal is to achieve this vision within the next five years.
