water in Haiti

Dear faithful supporters;

We are so thankful that the Lord is gracious enough to provide us with a great well. Many of you know of all the difficulties that we have faced in trying to get a reliable water supply. Ever since 2005, we have dug 4 other wells, built a cistern and gutters off our house, and tried to help fix the public spring. None of these options have given us, and the community of Caiman, a good source of water. For the last month, we have had to go to the river with the truck and haul water by the barrel. We have been very limited in our agricultural projects because of our lack of water. With the influx of more people from Port, it has become an issue of some urgency.

A man that we know quite well asked us if he could dig us a well. We were hesitant because it is hard to hope after so many times of not getting water. Every time we have dug a well, we pay for the cost of digging whether or not water is found. But, this man was so sure that he could find water and wanted to help our community, that he said he would pay for the digging out of his own pocket if water was not found. His words to JeanJean were, "I know of all the great things that UCI is doing for this community and I know you need water. I want to help out as much as I can." We would only pay if water, a lot of water, was found. We had a contract made up to this effect and had him start digging. For those who know our property, he thought that water could be found right next to the soccer field. You should have seen all the people out there each day watching and praying that he would find water.

He dug 355 feet. He actually found water at shallower depths but we wanted to be sure to have water all the time. Of the 355 feet, 264 feet was filled with water. Remember, this is the dry season. When we got the pump down into the well, we started pumping water. We were able to fill a 55-gallon barrel in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We had him pump for 6 straight hours. Then we had him pump again the next day. Water, water, water. JeanJean went out there again this morning at 5:00 AM to pump water and many of the community came to get water for their households. What a blessing.

Kristie and JeanJean