Projects
Colonia Segovia Well Water Improvement
To donate to the Colonia Segovia Well Water Improvement Project please click the following link.
On the News: On August, 3rd, 2009, Andrew Eiland, Jr., P.E., along with a group of EWB volunteers were featured in the Herald Tribune under the Good Deeds section for their efforts at the Colonia Segovia Project. To read the Herald Tribune article please click here.
This need was brought to EWB-SCFL by Peace Corps volunteer and Environmental Engineer Chris Hickey. The population of, approximately 400 people in Segovia, have no electricity, no running water and only the most rudimentary sanitation via poorly constructed latrines. The only source of water in the village itself is a hand dug well that is completely open and unprotected from contamination.
On February 26th a team of four engineers representing EWB-SCFL traveled to Honduras to begin gathering data and laying the foundational groundwork with local missionaries, the local municipality, the regional water authority, and the residents of Segovia themselves. With the invaluable help of our constant guide, Chris, we were able to perform water quality testing, a topographic survey, and a community health questionnaire of the majority of households. Additionally, work sharing coordination was done with the missionary working in the community. The missionary group, Hope 2 Honduras, has already done a lot of work to secure funding for a new well and appurtenances from the regional water authority.
Upon our return to the states, the Segovia Team quickly began preliminary designs for a treatment and distribution system to supply water to each household. With only a two week turnaround time we were able to submit our designs and post assessment trip paperwork in order to gain approval from EWB-USA to travel in June to begin construction. The team has recently received travel approval for the implementation trip. We will be aggressively pursuing various funding sources to finance construction and travel.
Corail Lamothe
To donate to the Corail Lamothe Project please click the following link.
Corail Lamothe is a community of approximately 200 people located in the Southeast Department (Sud-Est) of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The area has never had a reliable source of clean, potable water, and people have to walk up to three hours to access a contaminated spring. No efforts have been made in the past to determine the best way to provide a reliable source of clean water to the community.
The EWB-SCFL team is partnering with HERO (Health Education Relief Organization) to help develop the community with a reliable source of clean potable water. One of the challenges in doing so is that the area is quite remote, accessible only by rough roads which create difficulty transporting materials to the site. Due to the rocky terrain and access issues, rain water collection and storage is the most feasible solution to begin providing clean water to the community during wet and dry seasons.
From October 31, 2009 through November 5, 2009, the EWB-SCFL Corail Lamothe Haiti team traveled to the community for an assessment trip. The team met with the local Water Committee, comprised of 13 Corail Lamothe community members, to identify community needs, discuss the role each party would play during the project process, and develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between Corail Lamothe and EWB-SCFL. After a field evaluation, it was determined that the most effective plan to provide clean, safe potable water for the village is to rehabilitate existing cisterns and rain catchment systems throughout the village. The total available existing storage volume is approximately 60,000 gallons. In addition, slow-sand filters manufactured by Pure Water for Haiti, a Haitian non-profit group, will be installed in conjunction with this effort at the household level. The EWB-SCFL team is planning to travel to Corail Lamothe in late April 2010 to proceed with Phase I implementation. Subsequent phases may include construction of composting latrines, construction of a centrally located cistern/rain catchment system and rehabilitation of additional existing cisterns.
Bruce Goddard of HERO and the students with EWB-UCF were kind enough to deliver rain gauges and the MOU to the Water Committee for their approval and signatures. The Corail Lamothe community will be using the rain gauges to collect rainfall data for EWB-SCFL to use during the design process. In February, Pure Water for Haiti will meet with approximately 20 Corail Lamothe community members for a two day training session to ensure proper filter use and maintenance and help initiate hygiene education at the household level.
We are actively fundraising in an effort to reach our financial goals for Phase I of the implementation trip in April 2010.
To download the MOU in either English or Creole please click on the following links:
If you would like to download a detailed flyer regarding the Corail Lamothe Project and efforts please click here.