Women and Girls

Women and Girls are Most Affected

“The amount of sleep that I get has increased. Before I had to get up at 3am every morning to go get water to drink and cook. Now my family and I have it easier. “

Access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene are some of the most critical element of a healthy and productive life. And yet today, over 4 million people in Haiti lack access to safe water and 60% live without a toilet. The economic and health impacts are staggering, particularly for women and girls who bear the brunt of this crisis.

Haiti is the least resourced country in the western hemisphere and preventable, water-borne diseases such as diarrhea are among the leading causes of death. While this crisis affects everyone, the burden falls overwhelmingly on the shoulders of women and girls. They are the ones walking long distances to gather water, compromising their safety, or not going to school because they are menstruating.

“I used to spend a lot of money at the clinic because the water that I used to bathe my baby girl was not good. It was full of bacteria and my daughter got rashes. Ever since the well opened, my daughter’s health has improved. Now we drink treated water and use it to bathe and cook.”

Without access to safe water and sanitation, Haitian girls are losing the opportunity to get an education, to just be girls and to have a sense of safety and dignity. This situation is also fueled by a lack of education and awareness of hygiene practices and how water and sanitation-related diseases are transmitted.

The lack of information and access to safe water and sanitation services has also affected the well-being of families and entire communities, slowing economic development and hindering the ability of people to participate in income-generating opportunities. Young girls in rural areas are particularly vulnerable. At risk of being dehydrated due to lack of access to safe water and susceptible to infections caused by non-hygienic practices, like UTIs. If left untreated, these girls are also highly susceptible to acquire other renal and bladder-related infections.

In each community we work in, all receive gender-specific education to highlight the importance and impact water and proper sanitation has on women and girls. Although men and boys are most often not the ones collecting the water, Experience has shown men must be engaged in the conversation to understand their role and take responsibly for helping improve the lives of girls and women and the community at large.

“When the well came, the children stopped dying.”