As COVID-19 quickly spread from Asia to Europe and across the ocean to the United States, worldwide concern over the impact of the global pandemic grew. Concern was greatest for countries like Haiti that have few healthcare facilities, poorly functioning governments and long struggling economies. Paul Farmer, physician and co-founder of the Boston-based healthcare organization Partners in Health, said in a March interview with National Public Radio that Haiti probably had less than 30 ICU beds. Haiti Liberté, the country’s largest weekly newspaper, reported on March 30 that there were an estimated 64 ventilators in the country, with many not working.
On March 30, Haitian president Jovenel Moïse announced the closure of the border shared with the Dominican Republic and suspended all commercial flights into the country. To further contain the virus, schools and churches were closed by decree and citizens were asked to stay at home. The Haitian people were left on their own to fight the invading virus. Cindy Corell, Presbyterian mission co-worker in Haiti, said in April: “Neighbors are helping neighbors as much as they can. People are busy across the country making hand-washing stations and placing them where people pass or gather.”
While the people on mainland Haiti struggled to contain COVID-19, Haitians on the remote island of la Gonâve, located just off the coast near Port-au-Prince, realized that infection by the coronavirus could be catastrophic. There is no intensive care facility on the island. Local doctors depend on medical supplies from the mainland. With travel to and from la Gonâve limited to crowded ferries and speedboats, Jean Madoché Vil, Episcopal priest on the island, said, “Many people are afraid to travel to the mainland.”
Gonâve Island is 37 miles long and 9 miles wide with approximately 120,000 inhabitants. The rocky, limestone island has only a handful of natural water resources. There are few roads. People travel by motorcycle, by donkey or on foot over hills and mountains reaching up as much as 2,500 feet. Most families living in the remote mountain communities rely on rainwater collected in uncovered cisterns or surface water gathered after a rainstorm. There are few communal wells, and many lack working hand pumps. It is difficult for families to have clean water in their homes for hand-washing, drinking or cooking.
Haitians and Americans work together for clean water
Père Vil, as he is affectionately known on la Gonâve, believed that he needed to find a way to encourage the people to protect themselves. He knew that clean water is a precious commodity on the island. To combat the spread of the coronavirus and other serious illnesses, Père Vil turned for help to La Gonâve Haiti Partners, a 30-year-old partnership between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Episcopal Church of Haiti serving the people on the Haitian island of Gonâve.
Père Vil knew of a solution to the problem of unsafe household water that was simple, easy to use and readily available in Haiti. Deep Springs International, a U.S. nonprofit corporation headquartered in Leogane, south of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, had been manufacturing Gayden Dlo to chlorinate drinking water at the point of use since 2002. Gayden Dlo (Haitian Creole for “water guardian”) is a liquid chlorine product that quickly makes household water clean and safe. It is distributed in small bottles along with water storage containers: 5-gallon plastic buckets with taps, lids and Creole instructions with pictures.
Within two weeks of Père Vil’s request to La Gonâve Haiti Partners, 1,300 lidded buckets with taps and 4,800 bottles of the chlorine product arrived at the Episcopal parish office on la Gonâve — ready for delivery to the most vulnerable families across the island.
Distribution of Gayden Dlo began with a training session led by Père Vil for the local community leaders on how to use the buckets and the chlorine solution correctly. Each local leader now trains members of the community in small groups. After adding only one capful of the chlorine solution to 5 gallons of water, each household has safe, clean water within 30 minutes. The community leaders are following up with families to be sure they are properly maintaining their water systems. For a few Haitian gourdes (the equivalent of a few cents), additional bottles of the chlorine product can be purchased at the Episcopal church’s parish office.
In one month’s time, by May 18, the kits had been distributed to households in 10 communities, to patients at the parish’s Bill Rice Community Health Center and to other families on la Gonâve. Père Vil says, “With the distribution of Gadyen Dlo, we are making together a very positive impact on the communities at la Gonâve.” He adds that more household water purification systems are still needed.
Haitian women fight the spread of coronavirus
The members of Pwojè Fanm, a women’s vocational program, have joined the fight against the spread of the coronavirus on the island. Pwojè Fanm was started more than 20 years ago by Carmel Valdema, the wife of the Episcopal priest assigned to the island at that time. She saw young women finishing their education with no ability to provide for themselves. She believed there was opportunity for these young women in catering and sewing. She taught classes in cooking and baking. Students learned to make delicate party decorations. Others received instruction in embroidery and sewed intricate tablecloths and pillowcases. Since 2003, Pwojè Fanm has been supported by Beatitudes, Inc., which is affiliated with La Gonâve Haiti Partners.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Beatitudes designed a fabric face mask for the teaching staff and students at Pwojè Fanm to sew, using fabric that was originally intended for school uniforms. Père Vil reports: “The ladies have already made 262 fabric masks and they are still working to prepare 358 more masks. More than 100 were supplied to the Bill Rice Community Health Center and distributed to the medical staff, the midwives, the community health workers and any clinic patients who arrive without a mask.”
Creole words of encouragement are Lespwa fè viv: Hope makes life. Isolated by geography and long-standing social and economic barriers, the people on la Gonâve must frequently depend on one another to face the challenges of disease and natural disasters. They are innovative, resilient, tenacious and, yes, hopeful in their efforts to survive and succeed. Hope does indeed make life: hope that these simple actions will keep children and families safer, hope and trust in the ability to ask and it shall be given and hope in a better future. La Gonâve Haiti Partners joins with the Haitian people of la Gonâve to mount a strong defense against the spread of COVID-19 across the island. Together, the vision of a life lived abundantly is possible even in this time of pandemic.
Claire Barry is chair of the board of directors of La Gonâve Haiti Partners. She first traveled to Haiti in 1995 with a team from the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. She is currently a member of First Presbyterian Church in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
La Gonâve Haiti Partners, Inc. focuses on healthcare, education, economic opportunity, sanitation, clean water and capital improvements to church and school structures. The partnership includes 19 Anglican, Episcopal, Methodist and Presbyterian churches across the eastern United States working alongside Episcopal partners of St. Francois d’Assisi and St. Croix Parishes on the Haitian island of Gonâve. Visit lagonavepartners.org to learn more.
