Summary
This project is designed to reduce disease and save lives by installing a coordinated system of hygiene instruction and water filters in 16 schools located in Metropolitan PAP, Haiti.
Background
The majority of children in Haiti live in extreme poverty and do not have access to clean water. This places them at particular risk for the consequences of poverty: poor health, diarrheal disease, malnutrition, illiteracy and the marginalization that results from these social inequalities. Diarrheal disease is a leading cause of death in children. Worldwide over one million children die each year from this preventable cause. It is also the leading cause of absenteeism in schools and a leading proximate contributory factor to malnutrition.1
Haiti also has the largest cholera epidemic in the world. Started in October 2010, it is the direct result of lack of access to clean water, safe hygiene and sanitation. The already poor infrastructures were disrupted by the earthquake and created an environment whereby the introduction of cholera into the water supply resulted in a rapid cascade of events creating an epidemic. Experts predict another year before case numbers are low and stable and that each year there will be spikes during rainy seasons. Currently 35,000-45,000 cases diagnosed each month; 5 % of the population has been diagnosed. Overall, 500,000 people have been diagnosed with 6,000 deaths.
Pure Water for the World, Inc. (PWW) schools program focuses on ensuring clean and safe water to schoolchildren and providing them with a curriculum that focuses on water and sanitation hygiene consistent with established guidelines. This validated social policy of teaching health and safety in schools and then encouraging students to carry the messages into their homes and neighborhoods is a cornerstone of the extraordinary results that our programs enjoy. Implementation of clean water programs has consistently been shown to decrease diarrheal disease in children by up to 45%.2 The PWW water and education programs in Haiti have demonstrated direct evidence based improvements for over 200,000 children in the areas of increased school attendance, decreased diarrheal disease and improved hygiene behaviors at school and in the home.
1. Clasen, T.; Schmidt, W. P.; Rabie, T.; Roberts, I.; Cairncross, S. Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2007, 334 (7597)
2.Fewtrell, L.; Kaufmann, R. B.; Kay, D.; Enanoria, W.; Haller, L.; Colford, J. M., Jr. Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in less developed countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2005, 5 (1), 42–52.