To provide some context to this devastation, an earthquake with a magnitude 9.3 located 160 km offshore and 30km below water surface caused the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The Tsunami had a similar death toll but spread over 14 countries. The recent Chilean earthquake was a magnitude of 8.2 with the epicentre located offshore. The reported death toll at time of writing this was 700.

Jim Gehrels works as Senior Hydrogeologist for the Ontario Ministry of Environment in Thunder Bay and is also President of Lifewater Canada. Jim decided to help bring clean water to people in need more than a decade ago. His first trip was scheduled, tickets booked and war broke out in Liberia - his destination. He went anyway and has drilled 200 wells in Liberia since then and has trained local people to operate the drilling equipment and maintain the wells. This same approach has been taken in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Haiti.

Jim was attending a friend’s wedding in Cuba when he learned of the earthquake in Haiti; he arrived home and was invited by Les Babcock to go to Haiti to provide assistance. Les is an experienced well driller from Alberta and he has been travelling to Haiti, drilling wells for 40 years. Les joined the Lifewater Canada team 3 years ago. Les is fluent in Creole and very familiar with the local customs. Jim’s experience providing aid in war-torn Liberia provided a good starting point in understanding how to deal with a humanitarian disaster situation and in mobilizing resources and strategic planning. Jim’s past experiences also made him recognize “the time to act is now.”

I had a short conversation with Les and had a chance to talk to Jim at a time when he and Les had just returned home from a whirlwind 17-day trip to Haiti and were preparing to head back.  Jim also shared his trip journal with me and has kindly provided the photos used in this article. 

Jim and Les left Sunday January 17th, 5 days after the earthquake.  They flew to Santiago, Dominican Republic.  The night they arrived, Jim reported thinking that just as Les was hitting his bed to sleep; Jim himself was feeling aftershocks in Santiago (more than 100 km away from Port au Prince).  They chartered a bus, filled it with food and medical supplies and started making their way towards the capital of Haiti.  They drove across country passing beautiful countryside to arrive at Port au Prince, a city of 2 million people looking more like a deserted small northern Ontario town with rock outcrops and very few lights.  As they drove in they saw tent cities had evolved on the outskirts of town and there were very few people walking around.  Ten minutes after they arrived at their destination.  They felt another large aftershock.  Jim said that it felt like the floor bouncing up and down.  An interesting thing Jim told me was the Les – a life long well driller - didn’t feel any of the aftershocks.  Years of being on a drill rig and his body acclimatizing to the vibration of the drill meant the aftershocks didn’t register in his system.  Jim said he never got used to them.  They felt like the vibration when a heavy load is dropped nearby, bouncing up and down.  They occurred approximately every 6 hours.

Some parts of Port au Prince were relatively untouched whereas others closer to the epicentre looked as if bombs had hit the buildings.  One of the first tasks that Jim and Les undertook after distributing supplies was to try to help locate a Canadian-- Katie Hadley --from Franz Environmental, Ottawa, Ontario.  Katie checked into her hotel, the Montana on January 12th and 50 minutes after she arrived the earthquake struck and the hotel collapsed and nobody had heard anything about her.  Jim made his way to the hotel where he was able to talk to rescue crews and ensure that they knew what room she had been in.  Katie’s body was found two days later.  A fund was set up in memory of Katie.  Friends and family responded swiftly and while in Haiti, Lifewater was able to drill a well in her memory.  Jim reported it was a fantastic well, that once it was completed the entire village gathered around the well to learn about Katie, to see her picture and know her name.  The village chief said, “Whenever we come to pump to draw we will think of her and treat this pump like a daughter of our village.”   

The earthquake hit a very populated centre and has caused a lot of damage to homes and buildings.  This has left many people without a home or safe place to sleep.  There are estimates of 600,000 – 1 million people from the city were displaced into an already stressed countryside.  Some small villages have one well with a hand pump serving 500 people, add in the people moving out of the city and now there are more like 1,000 people using one well.  People, often-young girls, have to walk to the well and wait in line to haul water back to their families.  The farther they have to walk, the less water they are able to carry and the less water they consume.  The longer they have to wait in line, the less water they consume.  This leads to dehydration, less sanitation, and less cleaning of fruits and vegetables.  The hand pumps may not have been in great condition prior to this crisis.  In addition to this, the extra strain placed on these pumps by the additional use mean that soon these pumps break down and more people are reliant on fewer and fewer wells.  These condition combine to create a perfect storm for water borne illnesses like dysentery, cholera, typhoid to occur that could impact a lot of people.

There is hope.
Jim and Les were in Haiti for 17 days and in that time they drilled 3 new wells for under serviced villages receiving large numbers of homeless refugees; they rehabilitated 5 existing wells, and supported the distribution of biosand filters in Port-au-Prince.  The goal of Lifewater Canada is to train local people so that they can continue to drill wells and keep pumps maintained for the long term.  Lifewater met with many other groups operating in Haiti to coordinate the local team's work with the larger, sustainable development response that Haiti will need to recover in the years ahead.

Clean safe drinking water is necessary for a healthy population.  Groundwater is an excellent source of drinking water for Haitians.  The aquifers in Haiti are in relatively good condition.  The shallowest aquifer found at 40 feet has some signs of contamination but deeper water supplies accessed at 90 to 110 feet are very good.  There is also a deeper aquifer that may have flowing conditions allowing access at surface with limited technology.  The regulations in Haiti regarding well construction are different than in Canada but the goal is to construct the wells as protectively as possible to ensure sustainable groundwater supplies and safe drinking water. 

Jim and Les are heading back in late March to coordinate further efforts.  On their way home from their first trip, they made a basic budget and supply list that they would need to accomplish their goals.  They plan to provide intensive support and training for local people for the next 12 to 24 months.  They want to rehabilitate and rebuild 200 wells and drill 33 new wells.  They also plan to assess current wells and map out where existing wells are located to identify areas most underserved.   

How You Can Help
Many of you saw images of this disaster and we felt we wanted to help in some way.  It is easy to forget about what has happened when the news coverage lessens but in order for Haiti to rebuild, continued support is needed.  There are also many other areas that need attention and Lifewater is actively drilling wells and training local crews in Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia and Kenya.  Jim is leaving Canada at the end of March to go to Haiti and will leave Haiti to go to Liberia before returning to Canada.  We will be following Jim’s travels this year and reporting back to The Source readers to keep you informed and connected.  OGWA is trying to raise awareness about the work that Lifewater Canada is doing and we want to encourage you to consider helping this worthwhile cause. 

1. Donating money:  Go to www.Lifewater.ca to learn more about this organization and to provide a donation.
2. Volunteering:  Professionals, particularly those with French speaking skills, should consider volunteering your time to travel to Haiti as a Lifewater volunteer.  Ideally, a volunteer would spend 2 to 4 weeks and your skills will be used to provide a baseline assessment of the wells in Haiti.  Volunteers will GPS well locations, use field kits to test water, assess condition of the well and pump, depth of the well and water level.  Jim has provided an estimate of $2,000 cost per volunteer.  If you are interested in learning more or providing your name as a potential volunteer please contact me Mary Jane Conboy at mj@wellwise.ca 
3. Donating Supplies:  Lifewater is trying to bring things with them, as they are unsure when the supply chain may open up again to allow reliable access to drilling materials and the inconsistent supply chain has impacted work in other countries.  Wells are 4 inch PVC casing with #10 screen and 3-inch Grundfos pumps.  Well construction equipment and supplies are needed including well casing, screens, centralizers, in addition to a small SUV type vehicle is needed to transport people.