World Vision Haiti has partnered with us to increase
sustainable access to potable water in the country.
One significant tool that the country is lacking is knowledge of where water is needed! So this partnership project consists of completing digital mapping of the Nord, Nordest & Centre departments of Haiti as well as the island of La Gonave, taking GPS location coordinates of water sources. Haiti Outreach will then compare the water source data map to the map of house locations to identify who does not have access to clean water.
A Haiti Outreach team has been assigned to execute this project, many of them being new employees hired specifically for this project. The team consists of:
- 1 Project Manager
- 1 Data Manager
- 3 Animator Supervisors
- 12 Water Point Enumerators
The 12 water point enumerators launched the data collection in early June, starting in the Centre Department. One enumerator is assigned to each of the 12 communes in the Centre Department. Every Monday the enumerators pack up their equipment and backpacks with enough materials to be out on the road for the entire week, even carrying cots with them when they know they won’t have a place to sleep! Rain or shine, they are trekking out over rivers and through mountains, making these new motorcycles an important tool to getting in to areas with no roads.
Their purpose is to locate all water points in their assigned commune, essentially finding out where there is clean water. GPS locations are taken of hand dug wells, drilled wells, tapped and untapped springs, and public water systems (such as fountains or kiosks). In addition to the GPS locations of these water sources, the enumerators are taking water quality tests of each of these sources to determine their potability.
So their helmets are on, equipment is ready, and backpacks are full – our team is ready to go!
Let the mapping adventures begin!