Les Anglais, Haiti

Clean Water to a Town Beyond the Highway

Location:	Les Anglais, Haiti
Current Scope:	Drinking Water Treatment and Supply
Next Meeting:	Check the calendar for our next meeting
Status:	Design and planning for Spring 2010 trip
Contact:	Carolyn Shapiro
See our mention on the State Department's website in their article, "Clean Water Means Better Health"   Donate to this Project

Background

	The Les Anglais project began when the Portland Professional EWB chapter was approached by the Portland-based church group Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (OSLC) with a request to assist the community of Les Anglais.  OSLC has been doing missionary work in Les Anglais for about 20 years.  They conducted a medical clinic in 2006 and came away from that with a strong impression that many of the illnesses they were treating were related to contaminated drinking water, and that one way to significantly improve the health of the community was to address the drinking water problem.  Two engineers from the chapter traveled with OSLC to Les Anglais in March 2008 on an exploratory trip to gather information for the project.
•    Les Anglais is served by two separate source springs that feed two reservoirs.  The distribution system is gravity fed with about 600 taps between the reservoirs and town.  The system serves an estimated 12,000 people. •    The water system is 20 years old and was operational in early 2008, but had some maintenance issues that reduced capacity, enabled contamination to infiltrate the system, and left the system vulnerable to future damage.  When hurricane Hanna blew through in Fall 2008, the system was damaged further.  It was not usable without considerable repairs.
	•    Both source springs are contaminated with fecal coliform, likely from animal waste and an obvious lack of latrines throughout the community. •    People walk about 15 minutes to a working tap on average, but the community water could stop flowing several months of the year during the dry season.  During that time, people get water typically from whatever surface source that can be found. •    The medical clinic is staffed, but seems to lack basic medicines and has no water or power. •    The Les Anglais water board and mayors are supportive and very willing to work with the EWB team.
Based on findings from the March 2008 exploratory trip, the Portland Professional EWB chapter agreed to take on the project, with the first priority identified as implementing some form of water treatment.  The Les Anglais project team consists of engineers with backgrounds in civil, mechanical, environmental, electrical, agricultural, geotechnical, and transportation engineering, as well as public health professionals with backgrounds in water, sanitation and hygiene in international health, nutrition, and evidence-based health policy.  We are always looking for dedicated people to join us!

Read about the team's progress through the February 2009 Site Assessment

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EWB Project Team and Les Anglais Partners

Invaluable assistance has been provided by brothers, Etienne and Norbert, who work as agronomists in the Les Anglais region.

EWB Portland Professionals Les Anglais Team with Les Anglais partners, from left:  Steve Blaine, Grace Weatherford, Travis Hultin, Aimee Lavarnway, Dick Raub, Kay Mattson, Etienne Francois, Heidi Kriz, Norbert Francois, Kim Slack, Carolyn Shapiro, Jessica DeClerck.