Mare Brignol, Haiti
About the Project...
The Engineers Without Borders Chapter of the University of Central Florida is partnering with the Atlanta-based NGO Health Education Relief Organization (HERO) to perform a water source study for Mare Brignol in the Southeast Department of Haiti.
The study will determine the most cost effective and technically feasible way of providing water to the hilly area where approximately 6,800 people live. The area is approximately 2,000 feet above sea level on the main road between Marigot and Belle Anse. The study will address both quantity (possible concrete cistern for storage) and quality (water treatment).
More Information...
Existing Conditions
The current water source is a spring which depends upon rainfall in the area. The volume varies considerably from season to season. Individual family members must walk up to seven hours each way to get water. Since residents wash clothes and bathe in the water, and animals are not prevented from defecating in it, the water source is also a source of disease. Click here to learn where Mare Brignol is.
Possible Solutions
Rainwater collection and storage will lessen, but not eliminate, the potable water needs of this community. The rainwater requires treatment and distribution, and logistics must be tailored to ensure equitable use by the whole community. Availability of building materials, minimization of perpetual maintenance and operation requirements, and overall cost are considerations as well.
Schedule
December 2008 select EWB at UCF and HERO team members visited Mare Brignol for a pre-solution community health assessment. From the information gathered, project design began. In March 2009 the EWB at UCF team made a second visit and executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the community outlining the responsibilities of each party to ensure a successful project. During the same trip, a Haitian contractor met with the team and community and surveyed the site. The contractor will build the cistern with labor provided by the Mare Brignol residents. The final design will be approved by EWB USA Summer 2009 and then implemented by the EWB at UCF project team and residents of Mare Brignol late November 2009 through mid-January 2010.
Subsequent trips are planned and depend upon successful fundraising. Each trip costs the team of six approximately $5,000 (US). The cistern construction is expected to cost at least $30,000 (US). To keep the project schedule on track, the majority of the funds must be raised by late September 2009. To make a donation to the project click here.
About Haiti...
Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Caribbean, with the Dominican Republic. About the size of Maryland, Haiti's 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq mi) includes the islands of Gonave, Tortuga, Vache, Les Cayemites, and Navassa. The 2006 population estimate of Haiti is 8.3 million people. Life expectancy for men and women is 52 and 55 years old, repectively. Although 80% of the population is Catholic, Voodoo is practiced by half of the island nation. A little over one-half the population over 15 years old is literate.
Haiti has been plagued by political violence and it is now one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Over three decades of dictatorship followed by military rule ended in 1990 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a military takeover, but he was able to return to office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a close associate to the presidency in 1996. Aristide won a second term as president in 2000, and took office early in 2001. However, a political crisis stemming from fraudulent legislative elections in 2000 has not yet been resolved.
Pollution of water resources in Haiti is a significant problem. Contamination of surface water and shallow ground water aquifers is common throughout the country. Raw sewage and industrial wastes contaminate water sources. For example, 18 wells drawing from mountain springs used as a main source of water for Port-au-Prince reportedly are contaminated with raw sewage. Two of the springs near Petionville have outhouses within 4 meters of the springheads. Pipeline distribution systems contribute to contamination because of breaks in the lines caused by residents illegally tapping into the system. There is no municipal sewage system in Haiti, and waste often flows into gutters, streams, and storm drains to contaminate surface water, the shoreline, and beaches. The major drainage canal serving the capital runs to the Bay of Port-au-Prince via Cite Soliel.
("About Haiti..." content from Major Alex Ornstein)