I’ve been sitting here watching the screen for our blog trying to load for several minutes. I finally gave up and decided I’d start this in Word, then copy and paste it into our blog editor later. Friends, the struggle is real! It’s 2022 and our internet is like a roller coaster of emotions. In case you weren’t aware of it, our internet system is, shall we say, complicated? Yes, let’s call it “complicated”.

When we moved to Camp Marie, there was no available option for internet, other than what we could get through our cell phone data plan. And that, that was 2G, if we were lucky. After we moved in and got settled we realized that if we propped our phones in the window above Chris’ desk, on a stack of 3-4 rolls of toilet paper or random small boxes, we could actually get 3G. We’d then hotspot our computers to our phones and do what we could. A couple of years in, Chris saw a set up at a friends organization where they had a dish system that then bounced the signal from one part of the compound to others through repeaters. Chris did some research and contacted the internet company to see if they’d be willing to sell us the equipment and help us set it up for Clean Water for Haiti. They were, and we were excited. Sounds simple right? Let me explain…

In order to set this up, the provider needs to have the dish within sight line of certain parts of the country to get the signal. We needed a high place, but we essentially live in a bowl in the valley. Chris saw the two cell towers on the top of the mountain between us and the ocean, and hiked up to check things out. He noticed there was a radio receiver on one of them. He talked to the guard of the tower and found out that a local radio station now used the old cell tower (the company hasn’t worked in Haiti in over a decade) and gave Chris the info so he could ask them if they’d be okay with us mounting equipment on the tower. They said yes, and for a small monthly fee the guard said he would watch our equipment too. Chris went back to the internet company and bought the equipment and made plans to have the technician come help set it up. This also meant ordering the repeaters from the US, and setting up a small solar system on the tower to power the modem. The dish receives the signal, sends it through a cable to the modem and wi-fi router in the guard house on the mountain, which then connects to the first repeater up on the tower, and the repeater sends the signal to the next repeater on the top of our house, so we can have internet. Our internet literally travels from the top of the mountain to our house.

Earlier this year we upgraded our repeater system, after months of really bad internet, and it was a game changer. Way faster than what we’d been getting. That is, until about 3 weeks ago. It progressively got worse until it wasn’t working. Chris hiked up the mountain and all of our equipment checked out, so he called the internet company and they put us in the que with the technicians. Eventually the technician called and was able to reset things. It worked for a couple of days. Then we had a big wind storm move through the country, and it stopped working. Chris talked to the technician and was told some of their equipment got damaged and they were trying to fix it. We’re now on week three of cruddy internet and having to hotspot off our phones. Which isn’t terrible, under normal circumstances, but our 3G (yes, we’re still on 3G over here…) has barely been working, too.

So why did I just spend four paragraphs telling you all about our internet issues? Because I feel like it’s a good way to share about life here. For those of you that have followed along with us for many years, you probably noticed that we went from writing regularly on here (or fairly regularly) to nothing for a very long time. Years, actually. Oof. It’s frustrating to want to write something and not be able to actually post it because the internet is too slow and the pages won’t load. So we (well mainly me) would move on and do other things. When I first moved to Haiti most of my admin work was general office stuff, but over the past 16+ years, so much of our work has moved online. When you’re in a country where the internet is a constant, that’s easy. It can make things more efficient. When you’re in a place where the wind might mean you have no service, you struggle. In this world of Zoom meetings, social media being the life line for many, and having to do so much work remotely, it’s hard to not get frustrated when it just doesn’t work. It’s also hard to get anything done.

If this just affected us on a work level that would be one thing. But it doesn’t. In mid-July the kids and I started our new homeschool year, and I was really excited because our new internet equipment meant that we could finally do more things online and use those resources. But guess what? That was right when things went down, and it hasn’t really happened because our internet is barely working, three weeks later. Our oldest is in high school this year, so we’re in the stage where everything counts. Thankfully everything she needs to do can be caught up, but it’s been a good reminder to me of why I’ve mostly chosen book based curriculum. It’s frustrating because there are so many wonderful resources out there for homeschooling families, and we struggle to access them consistently and make use of them. I want our kids to enjoy school and learning, and that’s a challenge when things feel monotonous.

On a personal level, Haiti is hard right now. We rarely get to go out because we’re trying to be mindful of security, we don’t have fuel, or there just isn’t anywhere to go. Our area isn’t a thriving metropolis with lots of entertainment options. We live in the middle of a rural farming community in between small cities where there are things like street food, but not much in the way of things like sit down restaurants or anything like a movie theater or mall (ha!). The internet is our entertainment, but it’s also how we stay connected to people both here and outside of the country. We might not see our fellow expats on a regular basis, but I’m constantly chatting with them whether they live in country or are abroad right now. When that’s not available in an easy to access way, it can make the loneliness creep in even more.

I know many like to know what life is like for people like us, living in a place like Haiti, especially in times with so much uncertainty. It’s things like this that can be incredibly frustrating for us, because we have no control over them and there’s nothing we can do to fix them. But, it’s also things like this that have helped us learn to be more flexible. I’m so grateful for that. It’s also these kinds of things that teach us to be more grateful for what we have. I think it’s so easy to get reliant on services and resources, to the point where we think they’re a right. When they’re removed we can feel like our rights are being infringed upon, or that we’re suffering. The truth is, most of the time we’re not. It may be inconvenient, it may be frustrating, it may even disrupt life a bit. But, something like internet is a privilege and a tool. I always appreciate it more when it comes back and I can do the things I want to. But, I can survive without it. Considering that we’re here to help provide access to clean water, something that people don’t have and truly is a need to survive, so many things seem petty when I really step back.

Times are incredibly frustrating right now, especially here in Haiti, because we see no clear way that the issues in country can be resolved. It’s hard to look at each day and feel discouraged, and to think of the future and not know what to expect or if things will ever get better. But, I know that my personal outlook on life is what affects a lot of that. I can choose to only see the hard, the negative, and be discouraged, or I can recognize that I feel those things, sit with them for a bit, and then also look for the things I’m grateful for in the midst of it. People often ask us how we keep going through all the things we’ve been through and experienced in our years here? Honestly, for me, gratitude is one of those things. Practicing gratitude even when things feel impossible is such a gift. It helps me remember that little in life is guaranteed, that I have very little control over most of it (even though I might like to think I do), and that the things I do have are a gift. Taking a few minutes to think about the things I’m grateful for, even specific things within hard situations, can completely change my perspective. I highly recommend it.

And now, I’m going to attempt to post this and see what happens. If you’re reading it then you’ll know it worked, and for that, I can be a bit grateful today.

~Leslie

After neglecting this blog for years, I finally made a few posts with the intention of making one post per month. I wrote another post for June, but it ended up being way too long. It also wandered from point to point and had a lot of numbers and metrics in it that would cause most readers to lose interest. I love numbers and metrics, but most readers don’t! I’ll try to do better this time around.

Why is cost per filter important to us? Well, we have chosen to do a single thing and do it really, really well. We build and install biosand filters, and include an education and follow up program which ensures most filters get used and taken care of for many years. Since we only do one thing, we can take our total expenses, divide that by our number of filters installed, and see exactly how efficient we are. That’s important! It means something! And it should be something our donors care about.

For over a decade now, we have advertised that for $100, we can provide a filter to a family in Haiti. In reality, that number changes every year. Clean Water for Haiti, like Haiti itself, has good years and bad years. Here is the data for the past several years:

Year Total filters Admin Costs Cost Per Filter
2018 3033 9.6% $103.80
2019 3270 7.3% $106.53
2020 1974 N/A $134.57
2021 3308 N/A $77.20
2022 2311 9.3% $78.09 *Jan-Jun 2022 only

The cost per filter is found simply by dividing our total expenses (minus program-derived revenues such as co-pays) in any given year by the total number of filters installed. It includes all expenses, not just here in Haiti, but in the USA and Canada too. Since Clean Water for Haiti only has one program, it is relatively straightforward to work out the numbers.

Why is there so much variation? There are large, one-off expenses such as the purchase of a delivery truck that can significantly add to the cost per filter for a certain year. Also, some of our supplies are purchased in quantities that will last 12 months or more. That also involves large chunks of money, spent more in some years than others. Having to rebuild an engine or a transmission in a delivery truck can cost a lot of money, too. In 2020 we had a surprising amount of vehicle related expenses, for example.

Apart from one-off expenses, the biggest single thing that affects our cost per filter seems to be how many filters we install over time. Generally speaking, the years with high production are also the years with the lowest cost per filter. The best strategy for making Clean Water for Haiti run efficiently, then, is to push production and installation of filters and make sure there are no interruptions to the machine.

Lately more than usual, I’ve been trying to anticipate anything that might slow down our work and act in advance to have a solution ready. On the weekend, two delivery trucks full of cement were stolen by bandits and the drivers kidnapped. We quickly bought cement to fill up our own depot, thinking that there might be a shortage. For good measure we bought plenty of paint, too. Last year we started stockpiling fuel in containers for the times when there are fuel shortages due to Haiti’s various problems. It was a good decision – there has been a shortage for over a month now and we still haven’t had to halt deliveries.

This year we’re on track to exceed 4000 filters installed – much higher than our previous record set in 2021. If you consider inflation, we’re on track to have our lowest cost per filter, too! I hope that in the future, we will be able to exceed 5000, or even 6000 filters in a year. If the trend continues, we would become an even more efficient organization as we continue to increase production. For that, though, donations would have to increase substantially. We need to have more money available in order to save more money! The more we spend, the more we save.

My latest blog post may be a bit boring for the most people. So why am I writing about how Clean Water for Haiti is governed? Well, there are certain donors, who tend to be larger donors or people representing foundations or corporate entities, who realize just how important it is for an organization to be governed properly. This post is for them. It was a lot of work to set up Clean Water for Haiti’s solid foundation, so this is where I’m going to celebrate that and brag about Clean Water for Haiti’s Joint Charitable Activities Committee and the good governance they’re committed to.

Clean Water for Haiti uses something called Policy Governance, sometimes known as the Carver Model. The most simplified explanation of Policy Governance is that the board supplies the “ends” not the “means”. The board states what the goals of the organization are and the Executive Director is responsible for finding the means to achieve those goals. Here is Clean Water for Haiti’s “end” goal:

“Clean Water for Haiti US [Clean Water for Haiti Foundation, CWH Foundation Canada] exists so that the people of Haiti will have access to clean water at a high level of cost effectiveness.”

The end is very specific; the means are not specific at all. This provides two things which are absolutely key for the director to have: empowerment and responsibility. The director is empowered to get safe drinking water to the Haitian people, and has the responsibility to get it done. How is this important? Maybe someone who has never worked in the director’s role might not see what a big deal this is. To illustrate, here are two examples:

I’m talking with a friend – the director of another organization in Haiti. He has a problem that I’ve seen before. I say “Why don’t you talk to _____ and arrange for _____ and _____?” The response is “Yeah, that would make sense, but the board wants me to ______.” I have had this conversation, with different friends and different details, many times. In each case, they suffer from a lack of empowerment. The upside, if there is one, is that the director isn’t responsible for decisions since it’s actually the board coming up with plans and giving specific direction. The board is directly responsible, whether they will admit to that or not. This is a case of no responsibility on the part of the director.  

But aren’t the people ultimately in charge the ones who should be making the decisions? Yes, I suppose so. But wouldn’t it be better to delegate those decisions to someone who has the knowledge and experience required to do the job properly?

Next, a director friend has a minor breakdown at his facility and needs a new widget to fix the problem. He calls the chair of his board to ask for authorization to buy the widget. The chair asks a large number of questions, long distance, while work is stopped, then states that they will have to get approval from the board. Two days later, nearly in tears, my friend gets authorization to buy the part. He was going to need the part anyway, no matter how many committees and sub-committees were put to work on the problem. This is a case of no empowerment of the director. For a talented individual who wants to take responsibility and get to work, lack of empowerment feels bad – suffocating. In this case (again, one I’ve seen multiple times) my friend decides it’s time to get another job, one where he can actually perform his job as director. This is a case of no empowerment of the director.

I LOVE my job. With Policy Governance, I have the freedom to use all of my experience and creative energy to achieve our mission. The responsibility that comes with it is sometimes (most of the time) a source of stress, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is a lot more involved in job satisfaction than just the salary and benefits. I think I would find it very hard to take a different Director’s position with an organization that runs in a similar way to what I’ve described above, even if it came with a massive salary.

So if the board isn’t telling the director what to do, what is the purpose of the board? Accountability, and clearly setting the limits. In addition to the “ends” that I mention earlier, we has a number of “shall not” policies. Here are a few examples from the top of the list:

Further, without limiting the scope of the foregoing with this enumeration, he or she shall not:

4.2.1    Allow assets to fall into an unreasonable amount of disrepair.

4.2.2    Expose himself or the organization to liability claims unless it is impossible to do so.

The board builds a “fence” by setting the limits down as policies. Once the “fence” is known, the executive director has the freedom to work within those boundaries in whatever way is most effective.

So how does the board ensure responsibility? The board requires regular reports from the director. Measuring success is key to policy governance, so we came up with key metrics that the board can use to determine success (or failure). At Clean Water for Haiti, it helps that we focus strongly on just one intervention: the biosand filter. The metrics we use are (1.) How many filters we install, (2.) How many filters continue to be in use after 1 year and 5 years and (3.) How much each filter costs us to build, deliver, install, provide user education, follow up with and repair if necessary. The board will analyze the results, ask questions, and decide what action to take. If the metrics and overall health of the organization are all looking good, I might even get a raise. If results are bad, or reports are incomplete or especially if one or more policies were to be broken by the director, then the board should consider looking for a new one.

That’s all I have to say about Policy Governance. Clean Water for Haiti’s situation is a little bit more complicated than what I’ve described because most of our work is done via our “Joint Charitable Activities Committee” which is a combination of the members of three different charities, the USA, Canadian, and Haitian organizations. In all the important ways, however, things work as I have described.

We would like to recruit more people to our board, especially folks who live on the Canadian side of the border. From our perspective, the best recruits are people who support Clean Water for Haiti already and would like to be actively involved in various things that need to be done in Canada and the USA, such as raising funds. Board members are required to support Clean Water for Haiti both financially and with their time. The Joint Charitable Activities Committee meets once per month via Zoom except in December, and we meet in person each January in Florida for the annual board retreat.

Life for a foreigner living in Haiti isn’t what it used to be. Foreigners inevitably end up hanging out with each other because it’s easier to relate when you have a common background and it’s nice to be able to talk about the aspects of day to day living in a country which is not your own with someone who can understand. Well, most of the foreigners have left the country or are making plans to leave. In practical terms, that means for us that our social interactions have largely moved online, as was the case for so many others during the pandemic.

I’m not terribly excited about interacting with people online, so I need to make an effort. I noticed that the last time I made a blog post was November 2019, so it’s about time I made a new post! I’m going to try to write in the old-school, stream-of-consciousness type of blog writing.

I’m going to write what I’m excited about. Clean Water for Haiti is, at this moment in time, killing it. I love the work we do, and in the absence of any kind of normal social life outside of my own family, my work is the center of my existence. I really want to tell people (brag) about it!

In January 2019 one of our delivery trucks got into a terrible accident. It was a complete and utter nightmare. All 6 guys in the truck had to go to the hospital, and one of them was really very badly injured indeed. The truck was totaled, but we didn’t realize just how badly damaged it was at the time. Worse than all of that though, a woman, the passenger on the back of a motorcycle, was killed. She left 5 children, including a 3-month-old, behind. Even now it’s hard to think about those children and how their lives changed forever.

I knew immediately that this is the kind of event that could end our work altogether if things weren’t handled very carefully. Fortunately, we all went into crisis mode and dealt with one thing after another as best we could. There’s a lot I could write about all of the craziness which ensued, but I don’t want to focus on that today. The long and short of it is that we dealt with various aspects of the aftermath of the accident right through 2019 and most of 2020 and kept Clean Water for Haiti alive. The financial cost was huge, and it set back our work substantially.

Later in 2019 and into 2020 I discovered one worker after another who had been committing small-scale fraud and needed to be fired. Now for me, if someone steals from Clean Water for Haiti I take it personally. You’re going to compromise my life’s work? NO. My outlook on life, already pretty dark, became darker. At one point, I told Leslie I wanted to go ahead and fire the entire follow-up crew and start over. We had a long conversation in which she reminded me that I had never fired someone before without proof of wrongdoing, and that while I can do whatever I think is best, it would have an effect on morale. Well, I didn’t fire the whole follow-up crew. Not right then. I waited until I caught each one of them committing fraud first. It ended up not taking all that long. All told, 2020 was a terrible year. And our filter deliveries were down 40%!

At the end of 2020, I had a good think as I was hiking up the mountain behind our house. Although I care about Clean Water for Haiti and the work we do very much, why should the workers? In a community as poor as ours, charity work for others probably isn’t going to be a priority. I tried to think of a way we could improve morale with the workers, and really form a team instead of just all working in the same place. Starting January 2021 we announced bonuses. In each month that we installed 250+ filters, each worker would take home an extra day’s pay. 300+ would mean 2 days extra pay, 350+ 3 days, etcetera. In 2020, we didn’t exceed 250 filters in even a single month. Things changed very quickly. The first month, over 300 filters were installed and we had a small party to celebrate. On 9 out of 12 months last year, the workers got some kind of bonus, ending up with our most productive year ever, for a total of 3308 filters! Then, this January, 402 filters were installed! That’s 4 day’s pay – a full 19% extra pay for each of the workers! It feels good to be able to give out bonuses. (From an administrative perspective, the added drain this puts on our payroll isn’t that big a deal. The increased productivity and efficiency more than makes up for it.)

One year to the next, morale went from rock bottom to sky high – definitely for the workers but just as importantly, for me.

I made another decision at the end of 2020. I was going to do everything in my power to avoid giving revocation pay in cases of fraud. I want Clean Water for Haiti to be respected, and I want people to know that we’ll go to extreme lengths to protect it from fraud, theft, or whatever else.

In 2021, I only had to fire one person. I was able to think it through ahead of time and I recorded the conversation where laid out the situation clearly and that unlike in the past, there would not be any revocation pay. I explained that he could take us to court, but since we had him dead to rights, whatever he paid a lawyer would be money wasted. I said something along the lines of “When you steal from Clean Water for Haiti, you’re stealing from the Haitian people, and the Haitian people have had too much stolen from them already. I won’t accept that. You won’t be getting anther Gourde, and it’s time for you to leave.” I think that perhaps that one interaction was another huge step toward improving my own morale.

So where are we at now? As I stated earlier, we’re killing it. It’s not just the day-to-day activities what are going well. Clean Water for Haiti has money in the bank. Somehow last year, in spite of record production, our reserves increased. I hired two more workers in January, two more yesterday, and we’ll likely take on another two in April or May! Looking at our numbers, I can already tell we’re headed for a record year, and we’re going to DESTROY last year’s record, not just knock it over. It’s exciting!