Wheels for Water: Bringing Reliable Transportation to Rural Haiti

The Challenge

For the past two years, our team in Haiti has been navigating some of the most difficult terrain in the Western Hemisphere on motorcycles—or paying $200 a day to rent trucks when the work demands it. Neither solution is sustainable.

Rural Haiti's roads aren't just bad—they're barely roads at all. Rutted mountain passes, seasonal flooding, and stretches that disappear entirely during rainy season. Yet these are exactly the communities we serve: remote villages where families have waited years for clean water and the training to maintain it.

Right now, we have no truck. Not one.

When our team needs to transport well-drilling equipment, water testing supplies, or training materials to a distant community, they face an impossible choice: risk damaging essential equipment on a motorcycle, drain our program budget on daily rentals, or simply not go.

What We Need

We're seeking two reliable used trucks—either donated directly or funded through contributions—along with the resources to get them to Haiti.

The breakdown:

• Vehicle acquisition: Two quality used trucks suitable for rugged terrain (4WD pickup trucks or similar)

• Shipping costs: Ocean freight from the US to Port-au-Prince

• Customs and import fees: Approximately 30% of vehicle value

• Initial outfitting: Basic modifications for field work

Purchasing trucks inside Haiti isn't a viable option. The local market offers only heavily worn vehicles at inflated prices—trucks that would break down within months on the roads our team travels daily.

Why This Matters

A single truck changes everything. It means:

Our technical team can reach communities in a day instead of three. Equipment arrives intact, ready to install. Staff travel safely through areas where motorcycle travel carries real risk. Emergency responses become possible when a well pump fails or a community faces a water crisis.

Two trucks mean we can finally operate the way the work demands—with one vehicle dedicated to our northern communities and another serving the central plateau, instead of constantly choosing which region waits.

The Real Cost of Waiting

Every month without reliable transportation costs us in ways that don't show up on a balance sheet. Communities ready for their next phase of training wait because we can't get there. Equipment sits idle. Staff exhaustion compounds. And those $200 daily rentals—sometimes necessary for a week or more at a stretch—quietly drain funds that should be going directly to programs.

How You Can Help

Donate a vehicle. If you have access to a reliable used truck (ideally a Toyota Hilux, Land Cruiser, Ford Ranger, or similar 4WD vehicle), we can handle the logistics of getting it to Haiti.

Fund the purchase. A contribution of any size moves us closer to acquiring the vehicles our team needs.

Cover shipping and customs. These often-overlooked costs represent roughly 30% of the total investment and are essential to getting wheels on the ground in Haiti.

For over two decades, Haiti Outreach has brought clean water to more than 275,000 people across 520+ communities—with a 90% success rate that stands unmatched in the sector. We've done this through partnership, persistence, and resourcefulness.

But resourcefulness has its limits. Our team in Haiti has stretched motorcycles and rental trucks as far as they can go. Now we need your help to give them the tools to reach even further.

Wheels for Water. Because clean water can't wait—and neither can the communities counting on us to get there.

For questions about vehicle donations or to discuss how you can help, please contact [contact information].