DLO/EAU/Water

Today, as I passed Route Frere during one of the 5 hours I spent in the taptap, I heard a familiar noise. The usual noises of trucks, cars, and buzzing motos was interrupted by what at first what I thought was a novelty horn. Except it kept repeating, and quickly I recognized the drone of - could it really be? - the song of an ice cream truck.

But of course, it was not an ice cream truck. It was the water truck. Try to imagine running ecstatically after the man bringing clean water to your neighborhood. A slightly different thought than cold, sugary, delicious snacks, no?  

This past weekend, I walked from Kenscoff to Seguin, a 6-8 hour walk. The Haitians that take that walk often do it on a routine basis; for example the ladies in Segiun will bring their big baskets of oranges to sell at the public market in Kenscoff. We even saw a guy carrying 3 trees he would sell in Port au Prince. Almost no one brings water, and by almost no one I mean I saw one person with water on the whole walk.  One old man stopped to ask us for some, and upon receiving it, the 10 ounces disappeared in seconds.

Imagine walking from here over the mountain in the background without a single drop to drink... in the middle of the Caribbean heat. 

 Also, Cholera continues to threaten the Haitian people, especially in the poorest areas where there is not good sanitation.

"Can't we just get some affordable water into this country?" you say. A decent question. Although really clean water should be free, consider this: already, for a 5 gallon jug of treated water, the standard price is 60 gourdes. That's $1.50 (meaning a bottle of Fiji might cost 3 times that).  In December, a student of mine in Cite Soliel came to the office having not eaten in 2 days and having missed school because he got sick from drinking bad water.

That, when with $1.50, he could have had safe water to drink for a week.

If I saw the water truck, I would scream like it was ice cream too; talk about things to be thankful for.

Respe