Oxfam and Red Cross Get Clean Water to the People of Gonaives, Haiti

Posted: 15 November 2004

by Maite Alvarez

In the mud-filled streets of Gonaives, people continue to make vigorous efforts to clean out all their belongings and rebuild their homes.

Despite outbursts of violence and a climate of insecurity, Gonaives shows signs of recovering from the devastating floods that washed away thousands of homes and killed some two thousand people.

Nevertheless, access to clean and drinkable water remains an enormous problem in Gonaives. On the night of the floods in mid-September, the town’s water system was swept away. Wells are now grossly contaminated, and hand pumps remain buried in up to a meter of mud.

Oxfam has set up water tanks in the affected communities of Raboteau, Descahos, Quebec, Ca Soleil, and St. John. Each tank holds approximately 10,000 liters of water. The water stored in the tanks comes from Oxfam’s twelve water trucks which, in turn, are filled at various pumping and treatment stations.

The largest of these is just off the bumpy and dust-covered Pont Gaudin road on the way to Savane Desole, which used to be a desert-like valley, dotted with cactus. It is now submerged under flood waters. The treatment station is run by the Red Cross, which draws muddy water from a nearby river and then clarifies and chlorinates it.

A high-yield borehole that belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture is situated there. Its pump broke down a year ago, and it had not been used since. Recently Oxfam’s Water and Sanitation (Watsan) team requested access to it, in order to see if it could be fixed. Government staff were skeptical about the likelihood of success but agreed to work together with Oxfam in hopes of finding a solution.

Four days later, the Watsan team was able to remove the damaged equipment and replace it with an Oxfam pump. The borehole is working again and providing safe drinking water.

"Oxfam's Watsan team made it possible for the largest water source in Gonaives to supply much of the city with clean and drinkable water… We are extremely glad we took this risk. This will tackle the immediate emergency needs as well as provide for a longer-term solution for the people of Gonaives," said Tanya Axisa, Oxfam Program Manager for Gonaives. Oxfam together with the Red Cross is now meeting roughly half of the city's water needs.

"…this is an example of very successful collaboration efforts … Our intervention was made possible by the cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture, and we were in turn able to facilitate better and greater production on the part of the Red Cross," said Oxfam Water Engineer Steve Abbott. "It would not have made any sense to duplicate the Red Cross’s treatment and pumping capabilities, which were already established. Instead, we have provided them with access to a far superior source of water, solving some of their most serious problems. In turn, our trucking and distribution efforts are improved by their collaboration."

Oxfam Watsan team will also be rehabilitating one of the three water boreholes operated by the national water utility (SNEP) and has started testing for water quality in approximately sixty wells dotted around Gonaives.

In the face of adversity and disbelief, clean and drinkable water—more than was ever expected—is now flowing to the population of Gonaives.