Kreyòl pale, Kreyòl konprann

"Kreyòl pale, Kreyòl konprann." - "Creole spoken is Creole understood."

Today's proverb is another common one in Haiti and is used in different situations to mean a couple of different things. I've found two main meanings of it, one being that spoken Creole is understood Creole (the one we're using today,) but also used to convey the meaning of "speak simply and plainly." This was said to me a lot when I first started in Haiti back in May (which seems almost a lifetime ago,) to say "you're going to make mistakes in your speaking, but keep practicing and that the Creole you know inside your head isn't any good if you don't use it." As I practiced and learned Creole I remembered this, but I also found it to be true of building relationships and working in Haiti in general. The connections I've made during my time in Haiti took time and understanding to develop and I'm proud to say that each of them is worthwhile. It is with great pride that I've served CEDC and Haiti these past seven months and with a tinge of sadness that my time, for now, has come to a close. However, I cannot officially announce this stay as "finished" until I've updated all of you on how Ashley and I spent our last week before we returned home for the holidays (and in my case to return to classes in Clemson next semester.) So, without further ado (and minimal tears,) let us begin this last update.

On Thursday Ashley and I accompanied once more by Gaelle, Kolón, and Sadrack to the village of Belle Aire, a few miles southwest of Cangé. Previously CEDC completed a small project there consisting of a single capped water source and treated at distribution with filters and UV. We’d yet to visit the village since our re-installation and so set out to see how the system is faring. There are a few problems which have simple solutions of replacing of old pipe fittings and carrying replacement filters. There were two larger problems as well. The cap at the source is made of concrete which is being eaten away on the rear wall by run-off from an unknown source. Documenting and observing the problem we decided quickly this problem is easily remediable by constructing a diversion to route the water around the cistern and harmlessly to the side. The second problem we encountered was with the UV treatment, namely the disappearance of the solar panel providing electricity to it. A man who lives nearby approached us and began speaking with Kolón who asked him frankly but quietly where was the solar panel. He said that he wasn’t sure and that it had disappeared one night. Seeing that we would learn nothing else from him, we made our way up to the village’s school, a short walk uphill from where we were treating the water. On our way up, we encountered a man who works at the school who Kolón and Sadrack recognized. Kolón asked him what happened to the solar panel and he replied similarly to the first man that it’d disappeared overnight, and also mentioned (importantly) that the UV treatment was working until there was no longer a solar panel to provide electricity to it. He also told us (as we noticed while there) that it was truly curious that the box containing the filters and UV was open with the lock on the latch intact and unbroken. Noting everything we’d seen while we were there, we departed Belle Aire and returned to Cangé.

Friday, we descended to Péligre, a larger town about twenty minutes by vehicle down the road form Cangé. There is a man who lives there named Gaston we know from the ZL campus where he does social work. Before I’d left Haiti in September, I’d promised Gaston I’d visit Péligre to see how CEDC might be able to help with the water problem in Péligre. We went to Gaston’s house first where we were greeted by him and some other elders from the town offering us refreshments as they gave us a brief synopsis of the town’s water needs before walking around the town. Due to Péligre’s proximity to the dam that formed the lake (for which the town is named,) drinking water that is piped to the dam for the workers is shared with the town as well. The largest problem is lack of sufficient supply for the town; many of these people don’t actually live in Péligre but walk from the surrounding area to gather their drinking water from the system in Péligre. Gaston also interjected that as a result of the deficit, people who live in Péligre have to walk to unfamiliar places which has placed these people (often women or children in the developing world) at risk for violence with prior occurrences. As we begun to tour the infrastructure there are already cisterns and fountains in the town in good working order with small bits of piping in need of repair. We walked further down the road where we were shown the original cap and were told that water availability used to be intermittent but now water flows year-round, a boon to future work on the system. We were also shown an electric power water pump actually installed by the power company who distributes the electricity generated at the dam who pays and works to maintain it. As we talked and asked our questions we determined the likely reason for the water deficit is the pump being underpowered and overworked. We determined this could easily be rectified by conducting a census of the town to determine the size of the need in Péligre and installing an appropriately powerful pump. We let Gaston and the other elders know what we were thinking and told them that with all we’d seen their water problem should be easily fixed with the appropriate resources. They thanked us for coming to see them and we told them we looked forward to being able to work in Péligre soon. This visit was the last on Ashley and I’s list before we returned home for Christmas. This visit was my sixth to another community and also the last of my internship, a bittersweet realization. I was happy to have made good on my word to Gaston and filled with excitement to have documented their need so that we might help them in the future.

From Saturday to Monday, we went to Bas Cangé for some work at the dam. As I’ve written previously, we have dedicated piping at the dam for each pump as well as an overflow which feature metal grates for keeping large debris from entering the piping. Over time, the water has rusted the metal. To remedy this without replacing the grates, David brought a product called Corroseal which through a series of chemical reactions reverses the rusting process. To protect the coat of Corroseal (with help from Marcelin) we secured epoxy paint to be applied overtop. With the two coats having a full cure time of twenty-four hours we planned to fill the cisterns as much as we could during the week so the village would still have water while the knife gates at the dam to the pumps were closed. We had five pieces total to treat and paint with four fully curing in forty-eight hours and the last (requiring a second coat of Corroseal) requiring an extra day. As of yesterday, all of the grates had been replaced at the dam and the pumps re-opened and working. Officially wrapping up our work in Cangé for the year, Ashley and I began preparing for our trip home and spent some time with our friends before our flight on Wednesday. 

This week was very busy for Ashley and I as we tried to accomplish some big items on our list before it was time for us to return to the U.S. for the holidays. I’m pleased to say that we did accomplish everything we set out to do (with a good bit of fatigue,) and I’m further pleased with all the work I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate on and do during my tenure in Haiti. I’ll dearly miss all of the friends I’ve made as well as my work there, but I can leave comfortably knowing that Ashley is well-prepared to carry on our work and represent CEDC in Haiti. I wanted to make sure I talked sufficiently about the work we’d finished this past week (because it was a great deal,) but to save space and time for a single blog post, I will be publishing one more with some lessons I learned and some of my past and current thoughts. I think I’ll try to publish that later this weekend, so stay tuned for it!

Here'e the capped source in Belle Aire. Much of the foundation and ground around the system is un-eroded, but we would do well to address this before the situation worsens. The solution should be relatively simple, install a diversion for the runoff and then shore that which has already been eroded. This is definitely one of the more straightforward problems we've encountered. 

When everything is working as it's supposed to be, a solar panel mounted on this pole captures sunlight and converts the energy into usable electricity that can power the UV treatment. It is unfortunate that the solar panel is no longer there, but with the information of the UV working until the solar panel's disappearance, we know that everything on that end should still be functional. 

A quick look at the filtration system in Belle Aire. Inside we have the UV, four-filter system, as well as a water meter and pipe which exits the housing and has a spigot attached to the end. Most of this was in good shape with a need of new filters and replacement of some old fittings to make the whole system operational again. 

This is one of the main cisterns in Péligre. It was exciting and great for us to learn that much of the infrastructure needed for a water system in Péligre is already built and in good repair and that with which the town needs help is supply. 

Here we have one of the fountains (not far from the cistern pictures above) and Gaston. The fountains in the town we were told work well when there is water to distribute, making a project in Péligre that much easier for not having to build new fountains for distribution of the water. I met Gaston shortly after I first arrived in Haiti. It took some time for us to visit Péligre, but he was very patient after having my word that we would come. He was very happy to receive us for this visit and is greatly looking forward to working with CEDC in the future. 

This is the electric power pump installed by the local power company to send drinking water both to the workers at the dam as well as Péligre. I was told that the pump had had four or five major repairs during its lifetime and that it's required regular maintenance attention. From what was described, we inferred that the reason the pump has required so much attention is that it lacks sufficient power to supply the demand for water. As part of our plan going forward, we'll reach out to the power company in order to collaborate with them on securing and installing a pump with appropriate capability. 

As we concluded our visit, we thanked repeatedly for coming and were asked to pose for this picture in expectation of our future partnership. It's visits like these and the work to follow that first interested me in coming to Haiti and I'd like to underscore that I was not disappointed in my expectations. 

The team formally replaced the grates at the dam in our absence while we wrapped up other work before we left, but here you can Greg and Oddjob applying the epoxy paint we found on Sunday after we'd applied the Corroseal on Saturday morning. They were amazed to see the chemical process the Corroseal catalyzes on the rusted parts of the grates and after explaining the paint would protect the coat of Corroseal, we painted with great enthusiasm. This particular project we planned as far back as the summer, but circumstances surrounding interruption in regular water flow to the village for two days delayed us until now. I'm pleased to say I was able to see it completed before it was time for me to leave.