The 3 To 5 Days Approach to Sustainable Solutions

In Haiti, HALF of the population does not have access to an improved water source, and almost 70% of the population does not even have direct access to potable water.

Due to the conditions in Haiti, women and children are often forced to spend their entire day gathering water from miles away for their families. If that is not an option, people are left to consume unsafe water, which is filled with infectious waterborne diseases, and if neither of those are options, they end up suffering from fatal dehydration after 3 to 5 days.

In Haiti, these issues have led to higher mortality rates due to waterborne illness and dehydration and has caused the lives of women and children to revolve around gathering water, which deprives them of an education.

But we want to change this reality and we believe this change all starts with water.

Our model focuses on more than just supplying clean water to those in need; we want to address the issue, provide the right solution, and educate community members to properly maintain the solution as well as how to start a clean water business from their education.

Beyond our mission, our model is unique because it offers 3 different sustainable water solutions as opposed to only one. Depending on the needs of the community, we want to assess the conditions and then decide on the needed solution.

Our 3 solutions for our project in La Montagne are: providing water filters, restoring broken water pumps, and supplying donkeys.

These three solutions touch upon different causes of the water crisis in Haiti, which is what we believe will help us truly accommodate the needs of the village.

Our holistic approach is unique to our field; it allows us to collaborate with other organizations to find and implement the best solution that is specific to the needs of the community. 

This past week we were able to meet with our water committee in La Montagne to discuss and evaluate our progress. These dedicated men and women have volunteered to help find sustainable water solutions for their village. We are working with them to effectively integrate these solutions into their lives and to find economically viable ways to initiate a business surrounded by water.


3 New Water Pumps Restored!

We are so excited to share our progress on our water pump restoration project in La Montagne! We have already completed 3 of the 9 restorations, which already have made such an impact on the community.

Due to the water pumps being broken, community members were not able to access the water from the well, leaving women and children to travel even further to source clean water for their families.

Since the beginning of our project, we have been working with community members to train them to become water operators and educate them on how to take care of their water pumps and ensure that they remain in working condition.

Before:

After long days of working with service technicians to ensure complete restoration, we are ecstatic to show you the 3 newly restored water pumps that will be proving around 1,000 Haitians with fresh, clean water.

After:

Thank you so much to everyone who has made these 3 restorations possible! To help us restore the next 6, click below to donate!

What is in the Water?

The theme of the global water crisis surrounds one main issue: the lack of access to a clean and sanitary water supply.

So we ask, “well, what do people do if they can’t access clean water and can only survive without water for 3 to 5 days?”

This question leads us to the largest issue of the crisis: the consumption and use of unsanitary water. As an effect, waterborne illnesses have become the second leading cause of death among children under the age of 5 globally. 

But what is in the water in Haiti that makes it so dangerous?

Below are some of the most common diseases found in water in Haiti.

In Haiti, waterborne illnesses such as typhoid, cholera and chronic diarrhea are the cause of more than half of the deaths in the country ever year.

But... we have a solution!

THE SAWYER WATER FILTER

Our water filters have a 99.99999% removal rate, which makes it impossible for any bacteria, protozoa or cysts to pass through. They provide 1 million gallons of clean, safe water and 1 filter alone can supply enough water for 100 people.

For just $56 we can provide a filter that will save the lives of people who do not have access to fresh, sanitary water.

Visit our donation page to help!

TEACH A MAN TO FISH...

With 1,100 miles of coastline and a water table just seventy-five feet under the ground, on paper, Haiti sounds like an aquatic oasis. However, less than half of the population has direct access to clean water. In the past twenty years alone, $50 billion has been spent on rural water supply in this area of the world. In retrospect, development experts have realized that these projects do not work. Even with wells installed by various government programs, disaster relief programs, and mission trips, many people in Haiti resort to gathering water from garbage-filled rivers to provide their families with enough water to drink, eat, bathe, and clean every day. If wells and pumps are being provided, why aren’t they being used?

The old adage “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” has great meaning in this situation. So many wells have been built in Haiti, but little work has been done to make them a sustainable option for clean water.  After a few years, they break or they go unused because the villages can not afford to maintain them. They are often left with faucets with no running water.

3 to 5 Days Organization

Currently, there is no centralized infrastructure in place to regulate, maintain, or monitor the wells. Right now, people donate their time, outside of their daily jobs and responsibility, to try to repair and maintain the peace at the well sites. Unfortunately, the work of these selfless volunteers and residents is not enough.

 Read more about the need of a workforce to be implemented to turn these wells into a sustainable source of water for the people of Haiti. We need to work on building a business model that is sustainable for the residents of Haiti to access clean and available water.

Read the Washington Post article: "In rural Haiti, looking for a way to make clean water sustainable"

....IT'S BEGUN!

I'm so excited to begin this journey! I was called to do this when I have been spending much of my time to begin launching my own business in the beverage industry. I have been blessed by God to be a part of making innovative products and partner with extremely creative individuals.

As I have been doing much research in the water world, I wanted to know what else could I do that would help others that cannot find water as accessible to me. The providential way I figured out was when I ran into Sister Rosemary on Park Avenue and she was talking to me about all of the efforts they are providing in Haiti. I wanted to be a part! So after a few months of meetings with a variety of friends and family, I decided to launch a non-profit that allows me and my friends time to give back the most meaningful of elements - water.

St. Margaret Mary's sister Parrish in Jacmel, Haiti will be the 1st project and I'm already excited to think of other ways that we can provide water accessibility to other places! If you want to be a part or would like to donate please click here.

Thank you to all for your support!

3 to 5 Days is a registered 501c3 charitable organization.
federal tax Id#47-4329940.

“A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1(800)435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.”