North Charleston Nonprofit Helping Provide Safe Water to Haiti in the Aftermath of the Earthquake | News

NORTH CHARLESTON – A Christian engineering charity helps provide safe water to Haitians after an earthquake devastated the country’s southwestern peninsula.

George Green, chief executive of the organization, said a team of about 30 to 40 employees are actively working from the Water Mission office in Port-au-Prince to find clean drinking water solutions for people displaced by the disaster.

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck on August 14 near Les Cayes, about 80 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency reported on August 17 that the death toll had risen to 1,419, with an additional 6,900 infections.

The Water Mission, the organization founded by Greene’s parents two decades ago, is headquartered near the former Charleston Naval Base in North Charleston. Green said the company employs more than 400 people in the United States and other countries, with the goal of providing safe water and sanitation solutions through disaster relief and community development.

What a human needs most is oxygen, but water comes next on the list. Green said access to safe water is an important factor that is often overlooked.

“People will start drinking water,” he said. “If they can’t have safe water, they will drink whatever is available.”

Consuming unsafe water causes other health problems, such as cholera, a water-borne disease. Haiti experienced a cholera outbreak in October 2010, nine months after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, killing more than 200,000 people.

Green said the potential for a cholera outbreak increases when many people are moved to crowded areas, especially if the area’s water source is already at risk.

An estimated 83,000 homes were damaged or destroyed as a result of the August 14 earthquake, according to figures provided by Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency on August 17. These displaced residents are usually sent to crowded camps within the country, Green said.

“When you bring people together, there are some basic needs that need to be taken into account,” he said. “Water is one of those, (in addition to) shelter, food, basic medicine, and then, depending on how long things take… education.”

An earthquake-displaced person walks into a makeshift camp Tuesday, August 17, 2021, the morning after the tropical depression that swept Grace Les Cayes, Haiti, three days after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake. Fernando Lano/AFP

Fernando Lano

He said the charity initially sent employees to Haiti in 2003 to work on development projects focused on the country’s long-term needs. When the 2010 earthquake hit, Water Mission already had a team firmly on the ground, ready to mobilize.

The organization’s relief effort revolves around the construction and implementation of water treatment systems, which the Water Mission engineers themselves designed based on needs on the ground that employees have observed over the years. Volunteers are building the systems, which measure 4 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet and can be moved manually at the North Charleston warehouse.

The platform-mounted system is designed to suck water from existing fresh water sources. Green said the water is poured, treated, and then made available to people in need.

It only takes two to four hours to set up the system, and one unit can provide potable water for up to 5,000 people per day. Units are also stored at the North Charleston facility, where they can be shipped to areas in need.

The team in Haiti already had seven units stocked at its headquarters in Port-au-Prince when the August 14 earthquake struck. Water Mission personnel are now trying to determine where the treatment systems are most needed and how best to move them.

The turmoil that confronted Haiti long before the natural disaster complicated relief efforts. Residents faced uncertainty after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated on 7 July, and the main road connecting Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes saw an increase in kidnappings and gang violence, hampering the flow of aid.

Adding to the difficulties, Tropical Depression Grace hit Haiti on the night of August 16, inundating the country’s southern coast with torrential amounts of rain and some flooding.

“Haiti is just a tough place right now,” Green said.

The small Caribbean nation may seem far from the Lowcountry, but Greene appealed to locals to pray for Haitians affected by the earthquake and its aftermath, as well as first responders, and offer their support.

Charleston residents can visit Watermission.org, Watermission.org, to find more information on how to support the organization. To discover other organizations helping with relief efforts, Green recommended using a charitable rating group such as Charity Navigator.

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