December 2 , 2005

Dear Everybody:

Everything is great here at Clean Water but Haiti can give you all kinds of trouble if you don’t pay attention to what you are doing.

><>< Friday In Port Au Prince ><><

I hate going in to Port au Prince. On Friday I went into Port au Prince to buy some steel to make filter molds. The store is in a bad part of town, but I know the UN have an especially strong presence there now so I decided to go get the steel I needed. After passing several UN armored personnel carriers full of troops, a young man ran into the street and pointed a machine gun at us! A block later I arrived at another UN vehicle and stopped to report the incident and pointed back to where they could find the gunman. The Jordanian soldiers inside continued to smoke their cigarettes and thanked me for the information but didn’t decide to go anywhere.

As we left I said to the guy with me that I hoped we wouldn’t see another gunman before arriving at the store. Sure enough, a few blocks later 3 young men with handguns ran out into the road and started shooting! I decided not to stop and I missed the turnoff to the store I was headed towards because my foot seemed glued to the accelerator. The second incident happened within sight of yet another armored personnel carrier full of Jordanians. The truck wasn’t even hit by any bullets which leads me to believe that the thieves were trying to get me to stop instead of actually trying to hit us.

The incident left me feeling very naïve. I eventually found the new back route to the store I needed to find after doing some other errands and it turns out they have shut down their storefront on Route National 1 and opened up access to their former freight entrance. I explained about our encounter that morning and they said that we were lucky because a number of people were killed there that morning and no, the UN doesn’t do anything to help. I feel naïve because I realized I am still thinking as if I lived in Canada or the U.S. where people take responsibility for the job they are supposed to be doing, especially soldiers. I don’t intend to make an assumption like that again. In fairness, I can’t say for certain whether all the 40+ nations represented in the stabilization force are like that, but I’m certain the Jordanians weren’t doing anything on Friday.

><>< Update on the Property ><><

I paid our rent a few weeks ago and the owner of the property where we live and work, Madame Lancelot, is now in more of a rush to sell the property here in Pierre Payen. It has been a goal of Clean Water for Haiti to buy the property for over a year and we have raised roughly $85,000 of the $140,000 USD of the money we need to buy it. Mme. Lancelot has had two other parties express an interest in buying it from her, but she is continuing to wait for us to raise money. I hope you and others will decide to contribute to the property fund.

><><

The last time I sent out an update letter, I didn’t hear back from anybody but I would like to. The emails go out using a mailing program now, but I can be reached at chrisrolling-at-chrisrolling.com. Leslie recently wrote an update to our board about the progress of the filter program, so she will write about the work we have done this month.

-Chris

><><><><><>< Letters From Leslie ><><><><><><

Hello!

I arrived here at Clean Water For Haiti to start working with the mission full time about 2 1/2 months ago. When I was here in July for two weeks I was excited about some of the things that were happening at that point, but when I returned I was even happier with what I was seeing! I’ve had an opportunity to be involved with CWH in a variety of ways back in Canada so I’ve been able to watch things progress over time.

><>< Focus on the Local Filter Program ><><

It’s great to see so much focus on the filter program and the work to make it as effective as possible for the people that we are trying to reach. Our other two North American volunteers, Jack and Val, have been working incredibly hard to build up the foundation of our program. They have had to be experimental with many things and have been learning a lot and making many adjustments along the way.

><>< Community Filter Program ><><

In the middle of November Jack and Val did a quick count to see how many filters had been ordered, delivered and installed during the month. The number was around 60, which is incredible. They have put a heavy influence on the relational side of what they are doing and I have witnessed how people respond to this when I’ve had opportunity to go with them into different areas. Jack and Val will generally find a group of people and ask if they have a few minutes to hear about the filters. If anyone is interested in buying a filter they have a choice of paying the full cost or paying in installments. The option of paying in installments has probably been one of the main reasons that the program has taken off as it has. People don’t like to keep a lot of money on hand here as it can make them a target for theft. After a filter has been fully paid for it will be delivered to the home and a small class will be given for the family, along with any of their friends or neighbors that may be using it, about how to use and maintain the filter and basic sanitation and hygiene. Jack and Val have also trained some of our staff here to install and fix the filters and teach the class which means we are able to do more deliveries and installations in a shorter period of time.

><>< Filter Production ><><

With the increase in demand our filter production staff is working hard to keep up and is able to produce up to 10 filters a day. After a filter has been manufactured it has to cure for a week and be painted and tested to make sure that it will flow at the right speed. There is also a lot of sand and gravel that needs to be sifted, washed and bagged before the filters are ready to go. When we started sending more filters out at a faster pace we took a look at the way we were doing things and realized that there were some areas where we could make some minor changes that would help speed up production. In the last month we have expanded our production pad so there is more room for us to dry, test and paint the filters which in turn means more space to produce. We also made alterations to the drying area. By installing a cement pad and water faucet we have made what was once just an area to dry sand an area to sift, wash, dry and bag all of our sand and gravel.

><>< Increasing Community Awareness ><><

As we deliver and install more filters there comes a greater awareness of their presence and benefits in the areas we’re working in. Something that has been exciting for us is the number of people that have approached us about getting filters into their areas. Jack and Val have started handing out sign up sheets to selected members of a community to have them sign up interested people in their area with follow up being done by either Jack, Val or our other staff members. Clean Water for Haiti and the Biosand filters are becoming well known to the point that people will stop Jack and Val to enquire after them. Seeing all of these things leave us anticipating what the future is going to bring. ><>< A Spot in the Shade ><>< To completely shift gears, I know that Chris has said that his emails haven’t been as exciting as they used to be because things are getting to be normal for him. Well, they aren’t normal for me yet and things still catch me off guard. The other day while Jack and I were about to start heading home from doing some follow up we saw something that looked like it could provide a few minutes of entertainment so we found a spot in the shade with an older man that had the same idea and watched what was about to unfold. There was a group of about 8 people, a bus (which are old school busses that have been painted up), and a double door refrigerator. They laid the fridge on its back and tied a rope around each end. All of the busses here are equipped with roof racks to hold large loads and people, whatever the day may call for. Two of the men climbed the ladders with a rope each and got themselves on top of the bus while the others surrounded the fridge and hoisted it into the air. With pulling from above and pushing from below they managed to get it above their heads. Two of the men on the ground climbed up the ladders and using primarily their heads they managed to push the fridge up the rest of the way. At that point I made a comment to Jack about how we tend to take so many measures to protect things in transport and he reminded me that here people don’t generally expect them to work when they arrive where they’re going. I’m constantly amazed at how industrious Haitians are when they need to be.

~Leslie

><>< Jack and Val hold Informal School ><><

Marie Phila and another child, Jidline often come over in the evenings to have “school” with Jack and Val, Marie Phila also comes here on a daily basis to get water for her family.

><>< Volunteer Application Packet ><><

We have now formalized our volunteer application process. The application can be downloaded to your computer with these links: Volunteer Information Packet, Volunteer Application, Volunteer References Please read the instructions carefully, complete at your leisure and then email as an attachment to info@cleanwaterforhaiti.org. Please make the message subject "Volunteer Application". The information packet included is really good for someone who is thinking about volunteering here at some point in the future. Please keep praying!

-Chris