Ministerio Agua de Vida

Since becoming more "globally" focused, we have been making connections with other missions and technical groups that can provide assistance in our new role.  Ed recently joined Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and volunteered to assist with a water project in Haiti.  It was our first project in Haiti, but there is the possibility of more projects in the future since The Mission Society is collaborating with a group on the north coast.  We flew into Port au Prince and then took a Mission Aviation Fellowship flight up to Hinch in the northeast on the central plateau.  As we flew over the landscape, the total deforestation was amazing to see.  Even though Haiti is on a tropical island, ALL the trees have been cut for fuel.

After we landed on the dirt airstrip in Hinche we were met by Father Guy, the priest of the Catholic Church in Los Palis.  Father Guy is truly a servant of God in his community, and he served as our coordinator on the water system repair work that we planned to do.  We stayed at the rectory of the church and were awakened every morning at 5:30 AM by the church bells making sure that the faithful were awake and preparing to come to 6:30 morning mass.

Catholic Church in Los Palis

The Rectory where we stayed

Our objective for the trip was to upgrade the spring water supply system for the village of Los Palis, which is home to some 150 families.  However, upon arriving we found that the spring water was not even making it to the cistern above the village - something was definitely wrong!  Such is missionary work - you think that you are going in one direction, and then things change.  So - we wound up being a group of "forensic plumbers" - sounds like a reality TV program.  The spring water system had been built some 20 years earlier by the Haitian government, but is in great need of maintenance.

Concrete spring box which protects the underlying spring head

Villagers collecting water at a leak in the pipe from the spring

Another leak where villagers get water - how would like to drink this??

Little girl waiting to get some water

Our first task was to find out what was going on with the water flow from the spring.  We found that water was flowing at the spring head, but the first water station was not flowing at all.  This water station had been a major source the year before.  We also found that a number of "leaks" had developed in the pipe where erosion had exposed it.  On leak was clearly a hole cut in the pipe to allow access to the water. 

So we started some "forensic plumbing" and after a hard days digging at the first water station we exposed the PVC pipe.  As we were working with a piece of PVC pipe it broke off right at the connection and we thought - what a dumb mistake!  However, it was a God ordained mistake because we could then see that there was a plastic soda bottle IN THE PIPE!  How it got there nobody knew, but it turned out to be the cause of the blockage.  So we then had to cut out the main pipe to extract the offending bottle, patch all the "leaks" and then put the system back in service.  We had also bought a gallon of strong bleach to kill the bacteria at the spring head.

It was impressive to see how involved the local community was in the project.  The local water committee was receptive to their responsibilities for maintenance and EWB committed to additional help as needed.

Even though EWB is not a religious organization, it was interesting to see how God put this group together.  One of the members had served as a missionary for 2 years in Germany with the Baptist Church and another was the spiritual leader at his churche's discipleship program.  So we had prayer each morning before starting work and we dedicated the project to God when the water finally started flowing.

So once again, God has been glorified through the wonderful gift of clean, abundant water.

Technical Details

Project date: May 5 - 12, 2011

Location:   Spring head - Latitude -  N 19° 09’ 04.1”     Longitude - W  071° 55’ 16.2”

                   Village - Latitude  N 19° 08’ 31.3”       Longitude - W 071° 56’ 20.3”

Elevation:     1,000 ft. above sea level (approximately)

Project Cost:  $1,150  (Ed's portion only - each team member paid their part)

Type of project:  Natural spring development

Families served:  Over 200

Flow rate at spring:   5 gpm (dry season) to 10 gpm (wet season)