By: Tony Gilmore
The first time I traveled to Haiti with Pure Water for the World was in 2008, just after the organization began its mission there. What struck me most about Haiti was the abject poverty and the incredible resilience of the Haitian people.
Haitians never seem to get a break. There is little infrastructure in the slum of Cité Soleil – no municipal water, sewage or garbage collection. People live in unimaginably squalid shacks, yet they do their best to send their kids to school in clean, brightly colored uniforms.
The collective Haitian inner will to help their children have better lives struck a deep chord with me. It was gratifying that I was affiliated with Pure Water for the World, an organization that was helping to provide clean water and hygiene education so that kids could attend school, no longer affected by waterborne diseases.
Since 2008, I have been back to Haiti with Pure Water for the World a number of times.
The Haitians have endured a massive earthquake, hurricane flooding, a Cholera epidemic, and yet, after my last trip in late 2015, I have found that life seems to be incrementally better than it was in 2008. For the estimated 400,000 who live in Cité Soleil and elsewhere in Haiti, Pure Water for the World is making a difference, providing biosand water filters and educating the population on good hygiene practices. I am proud to have played a small part in that success.