In March, a Gen1 team traveled to Haiti for 12 days to work alongside our partners at Haiti Puits & Initiatives (H-PI) to complete three separate tasks. Our goal was to continue working a feeding program in a small village called LaRousse, repair a broken hand pump in Petition Ville, and drill a new fresh water well in a small village called Merger in Cite Sole.

The major part of the trip was dedicated to drilling a new fresh water well at a small community church. Our team worked for two days to drill about 100 feet before finding a suitable aquifer. This well was part of a completely new water distribution point which would be open to the community. Along with the well, we installed a submersible water pump that pushed water out of the well and through a four stage water filter system that had been donated by one of our partner organizations, One Ball One Village.

From there, the water flows up to the roof and is stored in a brand new seven hundred gallon tank, before flowing back to the water distribution point on the back of the church.

As with every project we do, we require a partnership with the local community. This process gives a sense of ownership to the well and instills in them a feeling of responsibility for the property. With this project, the community provided two things. The first being a concrete stand under the water faucets which will be used for holding their buckets while they are filled. The second was a rock gravel pit at the base of the stand that was dug about 5 feet deep and filled with gravel. We asked them to install this so that any water that drains from the distribution center will flow down into the gravel. This process keeps standing water away from the distribution point which also helps keep the mosquitoes away.

The March trip was a great success and we accomplished everything we set out to do. Thousands of people were either introduced to a new clean water source or gained access to water again through the pump repair work. We would like to thank our partners H-Pi and One Ball One Village for their help and support during this trip!