By JERRY GOODE
Even before the Haiti earthquake,
many items contained in LWW water
systems were not readily available in
country. Teams carry spare parts, but
there always seems to be a "gotcha" moment when a needed part is not there.
Thanks to a generous $50,000 grant from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), that scenario will happen less frequently.
A warehouse with an assortment of
parts will be established with $20,000 of the grant funds.
After the earthquake, many of the
LWW water systems were not operational due to a lack of spare parts. Operators will have access to parts immediately, rather than waiting for their U.S. partners to send them. Teams who did not "remember everything" can now have
successful installations by obtaining
needed items from the warehouse.
In addition, the PDA gift will provide funding for six $5,000 grants totaling $30,000 for new installations in Haiti. We are on the verge of surpassing our 2011 goal of 11 new systems, and it is only May.
As April was ending, two existing LWW systems at St. Matthieu Church/ School in Leogane Parish and Darbonne Church/School in Darbonne Parish were upgraded to solar power. A team of members from Kansas and Arkansas performed the upgrades.
Part of the funding for the equipment was provided by grants from PDA and the LWW Haiti Relief Fund. These two sites will no longer depend on finicky generators and will not have to bear the cost of expensive gasoline ($5 per gallon), not to mention the elimination of the noise and air pollution.
The six churches receiving PDA
Grants for Haitian installations:
• First Presbyterian Church, Franklin,
Tenn., for Foyer des Enfants des Jesus in Port au Prince
• First Presbyterian Church, Visalia,
Calif., for Mission of Hope in Titanyen
• Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Huntsville, Ala., for Little Brothers of St. Therese Clinic in Palmiste au Vin.
• Central Presbyterian Church, Fort
Smith, Ark., for Source Nan Bonbon,
Leger.
• Fondren Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Miss., for Missionary of the Good Shepherd Church Refugee Camp, Carrefour.
• First Presbyterian Church,
Hutchinson, Kan., and Indian Nations
Presbytery, Oklahoma City, Okla.,
for solar upgrades at St. Matthieu
Church/School, Leogane, and for Eglise Episcopale Annonciation Church/ School, Darbonne.
Living Waters for the World thanks
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and
those who donated to this cause. The
benefit of these funds will be extended
well beyond the response to the earthquake and cholera disasters.
Jerry Goode of Laurel, Miss., is Haiti Relief Project manager for LWW.
The Ripple Effect Just Continues to Spread
By WIL HOWIE
Our clean water ripples keep spreading further into the world. For the first time, LWW systems are now bringing
clean water to the Ukraine! In the southwestern tip known as the Carpathian Basin, the Presbyterian Women of Arkansas Presbytery's project, working with Presbyterian Church (USA) mission co-workers and with the Reformed Church of Ukraine, have — even with the challenges of working in Eastern Europe — successfully educated and installed two systems in schools serving the Roma (gypsy) villages of Kigyos and Fornos!
The first three grants from the Presbyterians for Presbyterians Grant fund established in January with an anonymous gift of $30,100, as announced in the last issue of Water of Life, have been awarded to:
• South Highland Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Ala., for reverse osmosis equipment for the Grace Inkukuon Presbyterian Church, Kiseria, Kenya;
• Transylvania Presbytery, Danville, Ky., for a clean water system at the Divino Maestro Presbyterian Church, Ukum, Yucatan, Mexico;
• Advent Presbyterian Church, Cordova (Memphis), Tennessee, for solar power and pumping equipment to deliver lake water for treatment at the Presbyterian Church, Veba de Dio in Moropocay, Honduras;.
Even more good news came in February, when
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) awarded us a $50,000 Grant in support of our expanding relief work in Haiti. See Jerry Goode's article above to read about the excellent work these funds are enabling.
Thanks to generous gifts like these and fine partners like you, good news, like clean water, just keeps rippling and flowing!
The Rev. Wil Howie of Water Valley, Miss., is founder and
director of Living Waters for the World.