It’s been almost two years since my family and I left Haiti under extremely unpleasant circumstances. Our intention was always to work our full careers in Haiti, continuing and building the biosand filter project. As Haiti continued to get worse and our family became more and more isolated, the thing that really kept us going was the loyalty we felt toward our workers. Why should we leave Haiti when our staff can’t? Also, even if things continue to get more dangerous, then our staff would, at the very least, be watching out for us. We had always been the people who stayed, especially when things got hard, and couldn’t imagine that changing.

In October 2022 we uncovered a fraudulent scheme that a group of our workers were using to steal funds from Clean Water for Haiti. It was very discouraging for me, even heartbreaking. Any worker who wasn’t participating in the scheme pretty much had to know about it, and chose to look the other way. The nicest thing I can say about this is that Haiti is a poor country, and poverty will often cause people to worry about themselves to the exclusion of everything else, and the difference between right and wrong can become very blurred.

When I realized we couldn’t count on our staff in the way we thought we could, I felt that Haiti had become too dangerous to continue to risk my family, and Leslie and I made the incredibly difficult decision to leave. Was there any way to save Clean Water for Haiti? If there was any way to save the organization with us leaving, I wanted us to figure out how. I had only one idea, and that was to ask my good friend, Johnson Alexandre, to take my place as director.

I met Johnson Alexandre (who prefers to be called just “Alexandre”) back in 2009. We suffered a terrible arson attack and received a written death threat, and the police and judicial system in Saint Marc refused to be of any help to us. A missionary friend of ours introduced me to Alexandre. Alexandre was both a Christian and an honest, high-ranking police officer. I brought him the dossier I had assembled on the group of men who were harassing us, and explained how we had been blown off by the police investigators in Saint Marc. He said, “This is not right!” and slapped his hand on the table. I thought that just maybe he could get the justice system moving and help us to be safe again. A few weeks later he arrested one of the suspects. He spent many hours helping us to navigate the baffling and corrupt Haitian justice system as we worked through our problems. 

I learned many things from my new friend. Alexandre speaks four languages, and is very well educated. He is also very patient with foreigners who don’t understand a lot of what is actually happening. My Creole improved very much over the next months and years, just from talking to Alexandre and asking him question after question. 

Alexandre and I happened to be together driving across Port au Prince when the Jan 12, 2010 earthquake hit. It turned out that his office collapsed and many police officers died inside, so it was fortunate I came to Port au Prince that day. After the earthquake, Leslie and I needed Alexandre’s help more than ever, as we were struggling to complete the adoption of our daughter, Olivia. We spent many hours fighting through the system. It was very important to us that we not pay any bribes as we completed the adoption, and Alexandre was the only one with the connections, knowledge, skill and sheer persistence to make it happen. His desire to fight corruption where he could was something we connected over.

Over the years, Alexandre became an indispensable aid to our work in Haiti, and if I’m honest, probably one of the main reasons Clean Water for Haiti has been able to be so successful. He joined our Board of Directors for our Haiti branch of the organization, and was the person who took care of all of our really, really tough problems, especially anything that required navigating the bureaucracy. When I realized we had to leave the country, I knew that Alexandre was the ONLY person I would trust to take our place and take over my job of leading the work in Haiti. 

Alexandre retired from the police several years before, but he had always lived in Port au Prince and I had no reason to believe he would be willing to give up his life there to run Clean Water for Haiti. When I told him we were leaving, I asked him if he would consider taking over the project, even though it would mean leaving his home in Port au Prince. He stated that if we had asked six months earlier he would have refused, but now that bandits had taken over the city, he didn’t have much to stay for. To stay safe, he spent all his time at home except when he went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays.  He had come to care about CWH just like I did. I was so relieved to think that the project I had spent 20 years of my life building up and fighting for would be in good hands.

Alexandre has done an amazing job. I have to admit I’m surprised at how well he’s done because he had no experience with the day-to-day operations, but I really shouldn’t be. He’s extremely intelligent, and served as a police investigator and commander for most of his career. That is to say, he knows people. He’s also a dedicated Christian, and genuinely cares about people – especially the poor. He was exactly the person CWH needed to take charge of the workers, root out the corrupt elements and hire new staff to keep the project on track. So far, he has exceeded all expectations. 

We talk on the phone every week or two, and I’m always amazed at the vast array of problems he’s faced and dealt with. As proud as I am of the work I did in Haiti, seeing what he’s been able to do since he took over leadership, I’m sure that Clean Water for Haiti now needs Johnson Alexandre more than it needs Chris Rolling.  

Of course, Leslie is now serving in the role of Executive Director for the USA and Canadian parts of the organization and it’s a role she’s ideally suited for, but really I miss my work with Clean Water for Haiti. Fundraising is tough right now, so I’m hoping I want to help out where I can. I always enjoy the opportunity to talk about the work we did and continue to do, so if you have a group that would like to hear about our work, please contact me, even if it’s just a few people to meet with over coffee. 

I decided to sit down today and do the edits to our website that I had been putting off. Some of them were just text and photo edits that needed to be refreshed, but others were due to all of the changes we’ve had at Clean Water for Haiti in recent months.

When I came to the blog page on the site and saw Chris’ last post, dated the first week of October, I couldn’t help but think that we had no idea that we’d be making the decisions we did just over 10 days later. The decision to move our family out of Haiti. The initial belief that we’d have to shut everything down and walk away, then the decisions that needed to be made as we realized we didn’t have to go that route and could pivot. All of the decisions that needed to be made as we wrapped up 20 years of living and life, figuring out what would stay and what would go. Decisions about how to restructure and what would stay and go within our programs. So many decisions.

I wish that I could share that Haiti is in a better place than when we left in November, but I’m sadly not able to do that. What I CAN share is that Alexandre has done an AMAZING job as our new Director in Haiti. He stepped into big shoes, and in really challenging times. He was able to finish off the year even stronger than we had expected by enabling our team to install another 150 or so filters, brining our total for 2022 to 4149 filters! Coming into the new year our staff had a slow start because of the lack of fuel, but after they were able to a good supply, Alexandre got them working on catching up on follow up visits and getting back to filter deliveries. They’ve only been back to work for 7 weeks, but they’re already a quarter of the way to our goal we had set for 2023.

So, some things stay the same. Our team is still doing the work of getting filters to families who need and want them, and we’re really proud of that. Daily the challenges in Haiti are increasing, and they’re still plugging away figuring out how to make it all work. In many ways things also look SO different.

Today as I was doing those website updates I adjusted my job title and contact info along with Alexandre’s. My day to day work is still in many ways the same as it was in Haiti, but I’m doing it in a different place. What isn’t the same, and what hit me hard today, is that for the past 17 years I’ve done all of it side by side with Chris, and I’ve done it in the midst of our staff coming and going all day long. Part of the edits I had to do today involved updating our staff page, and our contact page, taking Chris off both. My heart broke a bit, and I can feel the grief deeply, knowing that chapter of our lives is over and we’ve moved into new territory.

It’s exciting to see that everything we’ve built is continuing on. The foundation we built is strong. It’s helped us weather these adjustments and so far we’ve come out on the other side and are still doing what we’re called to do. I’m really proud of what we did, and what is continuing to be done. So many have had to leave Haiti and we’ve seen so many organizations cease operations in the wake of all that’s happening. We’re hoping and praying that won’t be the case for CWH down the road and are happy that so far Alexandre seems to be holding strong.

If you think of us, throw up some good thoughts or prayers for all of us – Alexandre and our team in Haiti, Chris and I and our family in the US, and our Board team scattered in Canada and the US. We’re all feeling a lot of things, a mash up of hope and grief, gratitude and sadness. Our hearts hurt deeply for Haiti as a nation and the suffering that is happening there, but we are also so incredibly grateful that Clean Water for Haiti is still able to be a support and presence there, helping provide much needed resources in devastating times.

If you’d like to encourage Alexandre and our team in Haiti, and ensure they have the resources they need to keep getting filters out to families, you can donate by going to our Donate page and choosing the option for your country, or just click this link: www.cleanwaterforhaiti.org/donate.

~Leslie

I have a lot of thoughts swirling around so this will probably be more of a stream of consciousness type post than anything that comes out well written and cohesive. That’s just the way things are rolling today, so we’re going to go with it.

This week has been a hard week here in Haiti. The country is in turmoil. There are so many reasons for why, and I always hesitate to be the one to try to explain, because Haiti is so complex that it’s never just one thing. I/we, don’t want to sound like any kind of expert on the country, the problems, or what the solutions might be. When I first moved here I heard most of the seasoned expats I met say things like, “The longer I live here, the less I know.” I now understand the truth of that. Not only is it a nod to the many layers and facets of Haiti, but also a means of recognizing that quick assumptions and solutions are often not the best course or right in the end. Complex problems require complex solutions that are often built over time.

So, you won’t get deep explanations of what exactly is happening here. It’s many things. Those things are overlapped and intertwined and can’t be separated. What I can tell you is how things are here. On this little oneish acre plot of land that Clean Water for Haiti calls home, nestled in a bowl of a valley in the Artibonite district of Haiti.

On Monday only 3 employees out of 26 made it to work for the start of the day. All through peyi lok (locked country) in 2019 we didn’t have a day with that few staff here first thing in the morning. Some days they walked long distances to get here. But now, with the insecurity being what it is and the lack of fuel, it wasn’t worth the risk. We want people to be able to work, because they have families to support, but we want them to be safe. Later in the morning a couple more guys arrived, but it was a quiet day all around, and it felt strange. Haiti is rarely quiet. There is so much life here.

Tuesday and Wednesday things were opened back up in our larger area, so people came in and the guys even did a delivery on Wednesday. We know that with roads blocked through the country and fuel shortages supplies are dwindling, so Tuesday Daniel did a run to St. Marc to buy things like cement and paint so the guys had what they need to keep building filters, even if they can’t be delivering. After the past few years we’ve all learned to take these windows of opportunity when they’re there, and plan for the possibility of hunkering down. On Wednesday the guys told us they thought they could get a delivery out, and they did. 33 more families got filters in their home that day.

Yesterday our delivery truck pulled out of the yard at about 6:15 am. A couple of hours later it pulled back into the yard. They were headed to the Artibonite, but hit a road block north of St. Marc. They waited to see if police would break it up, but after a time realized that wasn’t going to happen and came back. As the day progressed reports from all over the country were showing that things were “cho” as we say – hot. Port au Prince and Petionville were locked down with protests and gunfire. Shelter in place warnings as gangs were at war with police and each other. This is a Haiti we haven’t seen in the time we’ve been here.

I know that reading the news about Haiti the focus is on that war, and it is real. There are places we no longer go because it is not safe. But, there are places in Haiti that are still quiet and safe, and we are living in one of them. And we’re so thankful for that. As the guys came to work this week I found myself listening to them joke around and laugh with each other and the juxtaposition hit me hard. Their country is experiencing a civil war, and yet here they could step away from that, do something that is important and beneficial to the country, and breathe a bit. For those 8 hours they were in a safe space.

The importance of this is not lost on me. Not at all. Back in 2013-2015 when we made plans and built these facilities, we were only thinking about using resources well and planning for growth. We had no idea that the big solar system we installed as a means to stop paying for generator fuel, would be one of the very reasons we could keep working full time when most of the country shut down, over and over, because there was no fuel. We had no idea that the little plot of land in the middle of banana fields would become a safe space where we could all poze (rest) in the midst of chaos.

Our motto here at Clean Water for Haiti is “Empowering. Improving. Sustaining.” I’ll be honest, I think mottos are a bit funny. But I like ours because it’s become a check point for us over the years. Is what we’re doing empowering people to care for themselves? Are we improving their lives and the way we do things as we go? The country? And is what we’re doing sustainable? Does it lead to long term change where we can step back from that initial involvement and people still have what they need?

As our work has continued on, we’ve gotten better at it. We’ve grown and hired more staff who have become well trained, effective employees with skills they can use beyond CWH. But more than that, THEY have built a reputation for Clean Water for Haiti that is one of being a solid organization that supports the communities we work in. An organization that shows up, works within the culture, and keeps coming back to provide support. This is not Chris and I, this is THEM. I’ve been on the truck when it pulls into an area and people are waving and calling our technicians by name, because they know them.

In the past few years that hard earned reputation has served our team well. There have been many times when roads have been blocked, and the people blocking them see our trucks and let them through. Why? Because they know our staff are helping provide something important, that is for the people. Daniel told me a story a while back when we were concerned about cement shortages. We buy cement 120 sacks at a time, a full truck load. At our current rate of production, that’s about two weeks worth of filters. Daniel went to the store where there was a line of people all wanting to buy cement. The store owner saw Daniel and said he would sell to him, because he knew what the cement was being used for and that was more important to him than other construction projects people might be doing. Favor.

These have been the things that have kept us all going over the past few years. The things that keep reminding us that we need to keep pushing. It’s the reason the guys did back to back deliveries almost every day last month. If you didn’t see our social posts or get our e-newsletter, you missed the big news – they installed 606 filters last month! We’ve never done work like that in the history of the mission. Until last month our record was somewhere around 450 filters in one month. These guys are motivated, and they’re pushing hard. Because it matters.

Last Friday we celebrated that huge accomplishment with a big staff lunch. Before we handed out payroll Chris and I took a few minutes to thank everyone for their hard work, and let them know that we see it. That yes, they work hard because of a paycheck, but that more than that they work hard because they know it makes a difference for Haiti. That every filter is helping a family be more self-sufficient. At one point I said, “We know that part of the reason so many people want filters is because water trucks don’t have fuel, and there is no fuel for water treatment businesses to run their equipment. The filters you’re installing are giving families some stability when nothing feels stable right now.” They all started nodding, because they know it’s true. This week as we’ve been watching from here what’s happening in other parts of the country I’ve heard many people say there is no water. They were worried about not getting treated water.

When nothing feels stable right now, our staff are doing something that is bringing some stability. By having a filter families can do that one thing to take care of themselves when they have no control over all the others.

And that’s it. That’s why we’re still here. It’s why it matters. It’s why Chris and I get up before the sun comes up and make sure the gate is unlocked so our team can start their work day. It’s why we work hard to make sure the financial resources are there, so they can do their jobs. It’s why we’ve worked hard to put things in place so that CWH can stand on its own, and not be reliant on outside sources for things like power and water. Because we have work to do.

This week has been such a good reminder that there is always more to see. What seems like one thing on the surface, may have many other layers. That the one thing we thought we were doing, might have so much more purpose. N’ap we.