Water in Pestel

Hi all,

I did some quick analysis on the water-related questions from the 2010 Household survey.  I've attached the findings.  This data was collected by the health workers (APPAS) late last year.

A few notes:   First, this is not all the data.   The water related questions were only 1 section among many many sections in the survey.  Also, about 85% of the data has been entered.  Unfortunately one of the sections (Section 3) submitted data that is almost entirely uninterpretable.  That's a real shame. 

Keep in mind that we will analyze the data based on geography....we may see geographic patterns to some of these answers.  We can also analyze it based on other factors, such as household size, rate of diarrheal illness in the community, and so forth.

The summary:    

• There is very little potable/drinkable water in Pestel.
• 1/2 of people do not currently do anything to make their water safe.   1/4 of them let the water sit and settle to make it safer.
• The average hike to get water:  145 minutes.
• 1/2 collect rainwater in buckets or cisterns.   Again, we'll likely see a geographic distribution to this because the streams only exist in certain areas.  

We are in the early stages of planning a well-drilling venture for the people of Pestel!   Obviously this is going to be a very big project and it will take time to pull this together.  We are really excited about the possibilities that are beginning to open up.  And we'll keep you informed!!

There are many parts that are already moving, at different speeds, and many individuals who are exploring possibilities.  

We realize that a life-giving project like this is in line with our mission:  

Thriving Villages is a Christian organization called to demonstrate God's goodness and compassion. We will work collaboratively and holistically with individuals and organizations, utilizing our gifts and skills to address issues of health, poverty, and development in rural Pestel, Haiti and beyond.

But we also must discern the timing, the pace, the implementation, and many thorny issues along the way.  

As you pray for the work (and workers!) please consider this important area in particular.

Thanks,

Ben

--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

About the artists

Just a couple of more notes of interest regarding those recent photos:

The photographer is Steve Miller, and  you can view more of his work here at

http://www.stevemillerphotos.com/

The painter is  Brad Schmehl and you can view more of his work at

http://www.bradleyschmehl.biz/

Ben
--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

Artists....

I think this is really neat.  I'm attaching some photos that Sister Fidelis sent me.

What you're seeing is the work of 3 artists:

1.  The original photo was taken by Steve Miller, the professional photographer (and friend!) who has been to Pestel a couple of times with me.  If you have the Haiti calendar you know very well how God has blessed the work of his hands.

2.  The 2nd is a painting of Steve's photo, done by a local artist who typically fetches thousands for his paintings.  He was obviously drawn to Steve's photo.

3.  The third:  the frames for the photos were made by the man holding the pictures.  You can see that he is similarly proud of his work.

Sister Jo is also in one of the photos, and she has also been gifted with incredible artistic talents.  I had the joy of watching her do some work with ceramics when I visited the Sisters of St. Francis in Sylvania, OH.  She also has started up arts therapy classes in Pestel to help some of the kids who moved back to Pestel after having lived through the earthquake.  [sidenote:  so far it appears that about 1/3 of families in Pestel took in, on average, 4 people after the earthquake who returned to the area from PAP]

Enjoy!

Ben 

--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

Cholera in Haiti

Hi all,

I've seen several reports lately about cholera making a resurgence in Haiti.  Partners in Health is reporting that they saw 15,000 cases in June, up from 4000 in April.

It appears to be worse in the rural areas, and is being accelerated by the rainy season. 

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/situationawareness/haiticholera/Flash/bt/atlas.html

Ben
--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

I should have waited for two more minutes...

Hi all,

After I sent that email I went down to check my mail.  I was quite surprised to see a letter from the president of my alma mater writing to notify me that I've been selected to receive the Messiah College's 2011 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

This is a very wonderful honor, and again, incredibly humbling.   Heaven knows I'm anything but 'Distinguished'!!

This is more encouragement that the work of Thriving Villages is on the right track.

Take another look at the kids in that photo.  I find that I tend to look past their clothes and surroundings and directly into their eyes.  Those are kids with hopes and joys.

:)

Ben 

--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

Photo

Hi all,

As I was going through stacks of stuff (that have been accumulating for a bit now) I came across this photo.  I had mentioned this snap (that's what they call them in India!  Fun!) back after my June trip because I was so pleased to have received it from one of the workers.  

The worker came up to me, beaming, and said through a translator, "This photo for you.  These are some of the children in my section that received the medication."   I could tell he was very pleased.

And I am too.  

Ben

--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

Map of Pestel

Hi all,

BIG thanks to Novneet who has been working at plotting Pestel's villages using specialized software.  I'm attaching a view from Google Earth.  You can see what Novneet has done:  the 6 sections of Pestel are outlined (the borders are official borders), and the villages within those sections are placed.   Though what you're seeing is just a photo, in Google Earth I can click on any of those points and it tells me what the village name is, what the GPS coordinates are.   But it'll be able to do A LOT more.  We can set it up so that it tells us how many kids are in that village, the rates of malnutrition....

And he can change the color of the village marker, for example, to red if the degree of malnutrition is above a certain %.   In that way we'll be able to determine by looking at the map the areas with greatest needs.

Same thing can be done for water.   Many of you are doing data entry.   The data you enter will be converted into totals and averages.   For example, one of the questions on the household survey relates to whether people have to pay for water....and also how far they have to walk to get water.    We will be able to use this information to better determine where wells might be placed.

Just one example.

Pretty cool, huh?

We had to have the workers collect that GPS coordinates on the villages because that information simply did not exist.    Next, once they are done obtaining the GPS coordinates on the rest of the villages we'll scour Google Earth to look for possible villages within the sections of Pestel.    If we find some, we'll send the workers to those GPS coordinates (Geocaching anyone?   :)

Let me know if you're interested in helping us scour the countryside of Pestel from the comfort of your own living room     :)    

Ben

--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/

Quick note

We shipped down some medical supplies for the Anemia Campaign today (as it turns out the workers ran out of lancets last week, which is what we sent down today).  Jen took the 5 heavy boxes to the UPS store.

Long-story-short:  it wasn't cheap to send the items down.  BUT when she was describing to the store owner where they were going he offered to reduce the charge by 20%, which amounted to a $300 savings!

That's pretty awesome!   Gifts and donations and resources come in different ways, and it's always exciting to share about it.

There are a number of ways of looking at this.  Some that come to mind:

1.  "Hey!  that's lucky!"

2.  Someone just gave $300 in services

3.  We just saved $300 that can now be used for other purposes

The mistake would be in passing this (and other gifts) by too quickly.  But it's worth a moment to thank God for multiplying and blessing the work of our collective hands.  

Ben
--
Thriving Villages Blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/