I just got back from Haiti a couple of weeks ago... The well was an overwhelming blessing in so many ways. Let me try to count them for you:
1) The people of Greffin no longer have to walk a mile or two for UNCLEAN drinking water (from a stream along the road where clothes, cars and motorcycles were washed as well). From my recollection of the drive to Greffin, CLEAN drinking water would be 3 to 5 miles away and only available certain times of the day with very long lines.
2) The feeling of hope (perhaps the most important) and gratitude outpoured from the people more than water did from the well. The well LITERALLY was pumped from sun up until sun down. The ladies and children of the town operated it nonstop by filling large buckets and carrying it to concrete mixing sites, the water filtering station and to their homes (tents).
3) The value of the well to the people was obvious as I saw not one bucket spilled or dumped in a playful manner…, even as they walked barefoot over rough terrain. Each bucket was carefully used.
4) Hired workers as well as their families were able to get buckets of water to shower and clean after a long, hard and dirty day's work.
5) This well not only provides drinking water, but it provides tools for hygiene, washing clothes and building structures. This well has and will play a VITAL role in expanding the church, building the new school, the new latrine and housing for the homeless. Drinking water is the tip of the iceberg.
6) As stated in the above comment, effective jobs were created because of the well. This was and is a priceless gift to Greffin owed in large part to the well since the unemployment rate is 80 to 90 percent in Haiti and much worse in Greffin itself where the well was drilled.
The well transformed our teams abilities in many ways:
1) Cement CAN NOT be made without water. We would have been blessed to accomplish a portion of the foundation of the building without the well. Having water 100 yards from the area we built the structure was invaluable. I could not have imagined the work without the well. A fraction of our actual work done there would have been accomplished without the well.
2) I don’t know (honestly) how our team would have effectively stayed hydrated without the well. The average temperature stayed right around 100 degrees the whole time we were there. We worked from 8 to 5. We worked in the sun all day and it was a struggle even with the well. Water from the well was constantly filtered for our hydration needs as well as the 20 to 25 Haitian workers we hired every day.
For the record, the well was VERY productive. If I can use my experience in any way to help you with your cause, let me know. I would be willing to speak about the well if it would be of benefit.
You are not drilling wells, you are changing lives and generating hope in hopeless areas. Keep up the great work. Again, please let me know if I can help in any other ways. Your well impacted my life.
Eric Wright
Director of Operations
Gasearch, LLC.
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