A Sacrifice Worth Making For A Better Tomorrow

Monard Raymond is a single 35 year-old mother to a 4 year-old son. She lives with relatives and works as a merchant and trader. She cares deeply about her family and neighbors and is very engaged in her community. Her family used to gather water from a spring called “Castel Source.” Unbeknownst to them, the water from this spring has been the culprit for many cases of typhoid fever and diarrhea in her community. 

One day, a health worker met with the community and explained that it was the spring water used by the families that was the main cause of the typhoid cases in their area. After the meeting, Monard admitted, “I made the decision not to consume the spring water from Castel any longer. Instead, I walked to a well located in an area called Wesh which is a 20 to 30 minute walk.” The water in Wesh was not free, but it was clean and 30 minutes is not unreasonable for a Haitian to walk for water.

On one of her walks to Wesh to buy water she struck up a conversation with a member of a neighboring community. 

The person she spoke with explained to Monard how her community could have their own well and how to create a committee of 3 or 5 people. Very motivated, she exclaimed, “Upon my return, I contacted the local water authorities and explained that we are very interested in formulating a request for the drilling of an artesian well.”  The authorities were very happy to support her initiative and advised her to assemble her committee and get the ball rolling on the process to help her community acquire their very own well. 

She selected two other members for the formation of the committee. The three committee members worked very hard to help the animators and technicians to complete the process to build the well for her community. She admits that the time and effort put into the planning and implementation of her well cost her 5 days of work which cost her a financial loss for a short time. However, she is certain the gains that this well will offer her and her community will be well worth the sacrifice. 

Since the well was inaugurated, she continues to use her business savvy to serve as the committee treasurer and is overjoyed to see how having clean water access has greatly improved the lives of her community.