Eau (Water)

There are some things about living in Haiti that are a bummer when compared to American standards of living, but are positively opulent compared to many Haitians' current state. I say this not only because it is obvious, but because we were all very grumpy recently when the truck delivery of our water was delayed. Water supply is a private industry here.

This isn't our potable water, the water we drink, but the water we use to wash things (hands, bodies, clothes, and dishes) and to flush our toilets. We were without running water for 3 days. We have 2 cisterns, where our water is stored. One is hooked up to our plumbing system and the other is a reserve. We had water remaining in our reserve that Tibob, our man about the house, lugs up in big buckets to the bathrooms. It takes a whole bucket to flush the toilet, and when you have to transfer it with a tupperware cup by cup, you really appreciate how wasteful of water older toilets are! In comparison, it took me 2 cups of water to wash my hair. We ran out of water unexpectedly early because 19+ people spent 5 days confined to the house for the recent elections. Additional delays in our water delivery came from police blockades forcing the water truck to turn around. It finally arrived at 10:30 PM of Day 3.

In comparison, I regularly see people lug around potable water jugs balanced on their heads, fill buckets or bottles from broken water pipes in the gutter, or take sponge baths in the street. The tent city in one of Petionville's public squares has 3-6 port-a-pots for hundreds upon hundreds of people. Their doors are jerry-rigged out of wood scraps and people hold fabric to their faces way before and after they pass them. They are certainly dark and miserable places. I have heard there has been only one cholera case in this small camp, but no one really can be sure. The largest camp is run by JPHRO (Jenkins Penn Haitian Relief Organization) on the grounds of the Petionville golf club with 55,000 people. I believe the number of bathrooms they have is 1 per 1000 people, and this is one of the very best run camps. Various relief organizations deliver drinking water to the people in the camps. There have been two studies on access to water and toilets in the camps and the numbers were not good. 40 to 45 percent drink untreated water and 27 to 30 percent have no toilet.

Rural Haitians are even lower on the totem pole of clean water access. They often do not have latrines and drink water from unprotected, unchlorinated sources such as rivers or wells.

In 2008, over 50 percent of all Haitians, rural and urban, did not have regular access to safe water. I'm sure that number is much lower today. Unfortunately, this is not a problem to be solved by donating to any NGO, or to be completely clear, by any aspect of the privatized aid system. Drinking water and sanitation are the responsibility of the government and the need can only be met by an tremendous investment into infrastructure. No matter who wins the election, it is important that the international community provide support to the new government in this endeavor. Could the possibility of corruption ever be more important than this basic human right?

UPDATE Feb 14, 2011: Beatrice Lindstrom, a human rights lawyer who works with the IDP camp population has written a great article on water rights.