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 Fact:
59% of the Haitian population does not have
access to safe drinking water.
Response: Faith in Action International
assists communities in educating, training, and
improving their water supplies by capping springs,
constructing rainwater reservoirs, installing solar
water filters and construction and installation of
bio-sand water filters.
One of the great paradoxes of Haiti
is that it receives huge amounts of annual rainfall yet
has managed to become one of the driest, most
disease-ridden places on Earth. Freshwater aquifers are
shrinking. Desert areas are expanding.
Recent studies by the United Nations
and other groups have ranked Haiti among the worst in
the world for water supply and quality. Most of the
countryside, where about half the population lives, has
never had plumbing or sewers.
 Clean
water is a foundation of modern public health. The
advent of water and sewer treatment plants in Europe and
the United States in the 19th century precipitated rapid
declines in the rates of typhoid and other infectious
diseases.
In Haiti, much of the country remains
hundreds of years behind developed nations. The average
Haitian's life span has fallen to 49 years - six years
less than a decade ago - in part because of disease
rates tied to dirty water.
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We
believe that in addition to our Adult Literacy and Tree
Nursery programs, educating the population about the
importance of clean water and water management is key to
breaking the cycle of poverty in Haiti.