FAQs
What challenge are you seeking to address in Haiti?
The challenges that Haiti Outreach is seeking to address are 1) the lack of access to clean water available to Haitian citizens and 2) the lack of opportunity for community-led leadership and 3) the lack of sustainable development systems nationwide.
All three of these challenges continue to exist because of the unintended harm that foreign aid has caused Haitians for generations. Colonization, reparations paid to France, centuries of political turmoil, and natural disasters have plagued the country, encouraging this foreign aid and emergency relief. Aid often came and continues to come without collaboration with Haitians themselves.
The shortfalls of foreign aid in Haiti are vast. In the short term, community members feel immediate relief in terms of acquiring new infrastructure, the installation of a new well, or the placement of a latrine. It provides a sense of temporary stability.
In the long term, this creates many challenges. Repeated reliance on foreign aid efforts fosters dependency, undermining local economies and initiatives. It stifles long-term development by creating a reliance on external aid rather than fostering self-sufficiency. Relief work lacks the continuity required for sustainable development. Without mindset transformation and sustainable systems, the root causes of issues remain unaddressed. Without the ownership from the recipients of the aid, Haiti will remain stuck in a cycle of need as it has for decades.
One area where this cycle is particularly observable is in the water and sanitation sector. As it is a common statistic all over the world, 50% of wells often break or become contaminated after 18-24 months. Foreign relief agencies who install them often leave with no systems in place to repair or purify them. Instead another foreign agency is likely to install another well, often beside the broken one, continuing the cycle. Haiti is strewn with thousands of broken wells all over the country while over 4 million people do not have access to clean water.
In addition, it is a very complex time in Haiti for local and national leaders. Heightened conflict, economic stress, brain drain, and climate change has leaders feeling unequipped for how to move forward in such a high risk environment. Haitian leaders have never been able to seek and take action on their own solutions because foreign agencies have made decisions for them and rarely included them in the conversation. Foreign aid often works in silos and efforts are not comprehensive or collaborative, only exasperating the fragility of Haiti.
What is your approach to addressing the challenge?
With decades of incredible success in coaching local rural communities about sustainably managed wells, Haiti Outreach implemented an expanded curriculum in 2021, the Leadership Sustainable Development Coaching Program for Municipal Leaders. True sustainable system solutions require comprehensive, coordinated, and continuous efforts that are community-led. The program is a six year mentorship that provides leadership tools to Haitian leaders, so Commune residents themselves can have access to not only clean water but also be economically sustainable and free from the need for foreign aid.
The weekly coaching program integrates the principles of integrity, consistency, transparency, data-driven decision making, and responsibility. Haiti Outreach staff coach leaders to adopt a philosophical change in their approach from relief to sustainable development. The curriculum developed by the Haitian staff sets local and national authorities up for success in moving the country towards development. Transforming mindsets to take responsibility is essential to generating the ownership and critical thinking necessary for continuous delivery of water and sanitation services and beyond.
Because it is rooted in personal responsibility for all areas of one's personal and professional life it also has proven to ripple out and transform other areas of development and infrastructure across Haiti. It starts with access to clean water but it is much bigger.
The unique coaching program can be replicated and scaled. Haiti Outreach is in the process of scaling their coaching framework nationwide to benefit more of the 145 Communes in Haiti.
What are the outcomes of your actions to address the challenge?
Haiti Outreach has worked with over 520 communities to build wells or water systems that currently impact over 275,620 people daily. Haiti Outreach is the only organization in Haiti that is doing the work of coaching communities to implement a pay-for-service model to sustainably manage them. The impact is staggering. Ninety percent of communities coached by Haiti Outreach still have operational wells after 20 years.
The pay-for-service model ensures that financial systems exist to support the maintenance of a well long-term. Each household using the well pays less than $1/month. The pay-for-service model becomes part of the fabric of everyday life much like billing systems common in the United States. Residents here benefit from ethical banking practices leading to trust, accountability, and economic growth.
Currently, Haiti Outreach is also providing sustainable leadership development coaching to the municipal leaders in the Communes of Cavaillon, Ferrier, Pignon, and Terre Neuve. As well, they are coaching DINEPA, the national water board, staff. Last year, after being coached by Haiti Outreach, water system revenue in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood tripled despite the unrest there.
In 2024, 26,380 people directly, 225,670 indirectly were impacted by Haiti Outreach’s work.
The statistics and impact numbers above provide a numerical account of the success of this model, but testimonials tell the story. As Administration Counsel for Communal Section leader Claudette Alexander puts it: “Haiti Outreach’s coaching and transformation of the communities is what we have always needed. The future is different now because the leaders see their own responsibility and are now leading water instruction around the commune.”
Additionally, Haiti Outreach provides leadership support to student, partent, and teacher committees who want to implement sustainable clean water and sanitation access in their schools. Public schools do not provide this and statistics show a high likelihood that as a result girls drop out of school during middle school. Girls who get their periods, miss too many days during their period, falling behind, because there is no water or sanitation and choose to stay home.
For example, students at a school in Pignon, Haiti reached out to Haiti Outreach for resources. One of the committee members said she hadn’t used the bathroom in 5 years at school because of the conditions. She said many other girls would also just miss school if they had their period. She has now moved on to high school but said she is so proud to leave a legacy in her lower school for other girls! The long term impact of helping sustainable water and sanitation be installed and sustainable managed in public schools cannot be underestimated.
Describe how your efforts, contributions and leadership contributed to achieving its goals and led to the betterment of the organization and/or the society at large?
Haiti Outreach has undertaken a variety of initiatives that have significantly benefited Haitian society. Here are some notable national accomplishments:
Sustainable Well Water Access
2004 - Introduced Pay-for-Service Model
This set the core principle with DINEPA to be included in their 2030 plan to be financially independent.
Sustainable Sanitation
2011 - Introduced Communities building their own Latrines
2013 - Set National Standard Framework for no subsidized latrines in collaboration with DINEPA.
National Accessible Data
2014 - Created Water Geospatial Mapping System (mWater) to Haiti, integrated data, and paid to have Haitian Creole added
2018 - Scaled Nationwide and Set National Standard Framework. UNICEF, USAid, World Bank, USAID, DINEPA all keep their data there for WASH initiatives
Sustainable Household Water Access
2023 - Metered Household Access 24/7
2024 - In Process of setting National Standard in collaboration with DINEPA
Sustainable National Systems
2024 - Leadership Curriculum
2025 and beyond - Working to scale nationwide
Haiti Outreach has played a pivotal role in increasing access to clean water for Haitian communities for over 28 years. One of the standout aspects of Haiti Outreach’s approach is their emphasis on community-led solutions. The community co-leads every stage of the water project, from planning to maintenance. This involvement ensures that communities take ownership and responsibility for their water and sanitation, leading to sustainability.
Access to clean water and improved hygiene practices have led to significant health improvements in the communities served by Haiti Outreach. The reduction in waterborne diseases has resulted in fewer illnesses and lower healthcare costs, which has had a positive impact on the overall health and productivity of these communities.
The availability of clean water has economic benefits as well. It reduces the time and effort needed to collect water, allowing community members, especially women and children, to engage in more productive activities such as education and income-generating work. This has helped improve the economic conditions of many households. The impact of this cannot be overstated. Because Haiti Outreach requires committees to be at least 50% women led, women have an elevated voice. A direct and critical contribution to the success of all management projects.
Over the years Haiti Outreach has earned the respect of organizations locally and abroad. To not be in a silo, they collaborate with dozens of partners to provide additional resources, expertise, and support, amplifying the benefits to Haitian society.
Beyond water projects, Haiti Outreach also focuses on holistic community development. They engage in activities that improve overall living conditions, such as building schools, supporting local economies, and promoting environmental sustainability. Overall, Haiti Outreach has made substantial contributions to the betterment of society in Haiti through their comprehensive and community-focused approach. Their work has led to improved health, economic opportunities, and resilience among the communities they serve.