Haiti

Haiti was a special trip. We went to drill water. That’s where I learned about real poverty. And about the importance water access is to a successful life. If one does not have water, walking to get it takes up much of their day. That means no school, no work. Or school and work AFTER several hours of walking to get water. 

Having clean water is a game changer. It means children can now have dreams. Dreams of being a doctor, a pastor, a teacher.  This trip inspired the book “When the River Cried Out” about a team that comes to bring clean water to Haiti.

Excerpt from the book:

Just nine months after the devastating 7.0 earthquake, Candice is drawn back to Haiti to help restore clean water. This time she brings her twelve-year-old son, Jonah, and best friends, Will and Bree. As they work with a team to drill a well, villagers are mysteriously becoming deathly sick. Can they find the source before it devastates the community and claims the village elder’s only remaining son? And would anyone believe them if they did?

Dedication Day

This is part of our team at dedication, when the villagers gather and get water from a clean well. This is a great day of happiness, when people (usually women and girls) no longer need to spend hours going to water sources (long walks to wells or dirty polluted rivers) to get water. Our team drilled a well and also provided information on how to keep the water clean (clean bucket, clean hands, clean container = clean water). It was very touching to see the message they left us with white rocks.

Hurricane Matthew

We arrived in Haiti just before Hurricane Matthew was scheduled to hit. Luckily we were in the northern part of Haiti, protected by the mountains between Haiti and Dominican Republic to our east. We did not feel the effects of the hurricane like those in the Port au Prince area where there was complete devastation.