Phew! Is anyone else feeling the rush of the holiday season? November and December have always been busy months at Clean Water for Haiti, and this year is no different.
When we were living in Haiti November was the month that I would usually take a trip to Canada to do some in person events, one of which was our Christmas Market where we would sell handmade artisan goods that were all made in Haiti. I source these items from organizations in Haiti that provide employment opportunities to Haitian creators, and as an organization we can buy things at wholesale to use for fundraising.
Our Christmas Market has always been a hit, but the last year we were able to host it was 2019. My trip in and out of Haiti that year was so complicated and stressful because of the growing insecurity. We then went into the pandemic and travel became almost impossible for the next three years until we left. Because of my application for permanent residency in the US I wasn’t able to travel to Canada for a year and a half after we arrived. Earlier this year we got the good news that my green card had been approved, and for the first time in 5 years we didn’t have any kind of travel restriction. I can’t tell you what a load off our minds this has been on a personal level, but also on an organization level. It meant we could start making plans for fundraising again, and we did just that.
In mid-November I flew to Canada to work with Erin & Shawna, two of our Canadian Board members, to put on our Christmas Market once again, as well as a fundraising dinner. Since it had been 5 years we went into these events with the intention of just reconnecting with local area supporters in person and seeing what people were excited about for future planning.
The event was a huge success! We had a great turn out to the market during the day. Lots of people that had previously attended and had been missing this annual event, and even friends and family coming out to say hi, get some hugs, and catch up with me. It was so good for my heart to see everyone and be able to see everyone’s enthusiasm. We also had a great turn out for the dinner and had a lot of good feedback. We’ll definitely be doing both events again next year and build on what we were able to do this year. And, as far as fundraising goes, I’m delighted to share that between the market and dinner we had over $6300 come in that day! A HUGE thank you to everyone that came out :)
My parents drove back down to Washington with me so they could come for a visit. I can’t tell you how novel it is to be able to do this after so many years of international travel to and from Haiti. Those trips were always so full of stress and luggage and packing and all the things. Being able to just pack up here, get on a plane and be with family in a few hours, then hop in a car and drive home is amazing! It was their first visit since we bought our house last year, so that was fun. We’ve very much noticed that in the past few months our family has been feeling so much more settled, and happy. I think we’ve moved through a lot of the grief of the past few years with having to leave Haiti and having life look very different than we expected. Life is also much less stressful than it was while we were living here, and hearing my parents say that it was very noticeable that we were all so much more relaxed feels good. We had a great visit, and again, this is something that is very dear to us after so many years of living where it was hard for family to come see us.
They left last week and in the midst of battling seasonal illnesses I had to keep plowing through year end work. For nonprofits, end of the year is always the busiest time for fundraising, whether it’s in person, online, or through the mail. For small organizations like Clean Water for Haiti, that often means you have a small group of people, or maybe even just one or two, doing all of those things at the same time. I’ve always been the main push behind all of this, and it still falls on my plate. Making sure all of our social media and online stuff is happening to bring awareness at this time of year, added to a winter newsletter mailing, and also getting out regular communications can be a bit overwhelming, but it’s also rewarding when I see that work result in having the resources to keep Alexandre and our team working and helping people to get clean water.
Along with the events in Canada Chris and I were able to do an event at our church here in Vancouver, which was a fun way to connect with people and bring CWH in front of a new group. This weekend we’re doing a get together with a Board member and some of their friends to share more about what we do, and next Monday we get to spend time with local area supporters at an event we’re doing at Columbia Presbyterian Church. If you’re in the area and would like to join us we’ll be doing a gathering in the Fellowship room from 6:30-8:30 pm. We’ll have light refreshments, time to visit in person, and Chris and I will share what’s been going on in Haiti, how our team is doing, and what kind of support they need going into 2025. We would love to have you join us if you’re able.
So yes, it’s been a busy season here in the US as we head into the end of the year, but that’s not all! Alexandre and our team in Haiti have also been really busy, and we’re so excited about what they’ve been able to accomplish in really hard times. The hardest we’ve ever seen for Haiti.
This Friday our staff will wrap up their work year. After everything they’ve been through this year they all deserve a good rest over the holidays. I’ve lost track of the number of times Alexandre has let us know that they’ve had issues with gangs while out on deliveries or other filter work. Several times the delivery trucks have been seized and Alexandre has had to go with the police to spend hours talking in order to get the vehicles released without damage or loss, or anyone getting hurt. We won’t ever pay money to get our vehicles back because that reinforces what is crippling the country right now, and our staff would become a further target. Because of these situations our delivery radius has shrunk from what used to be about 90 minutes in any direction, to only being able to go about 15 minutes on major roads. Our staff have had to be very creative and reach out into very rural areas in order to keep working, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s actually good because it means people that often wouldn’t get access are now getting it.
Along with the struggle of actually getting filters out, we’ve had to accept that we can’t do all of the follow up visits we want to on filters that have already been installed. Normally we would be visiting them multiple times in the first year, but because our delivery radius has been reduced our technicians can’t get to a lot of filters that have been in use for a while. They’ve been doing what they can, but it’s hard to know that this part of our program isn’t possible to the extent we would want or know is ideal.
When we started the year, taking everything into consideration and knowing it was going to be another difficult year ahead of us, we set a conservative goal of installing 2000 filters. It WAS a difficult year, and yet, despite all of that, as of this week our staff have installed over 3500 filters!
So yes, it’s been a busy season around here, but we’re all kinds of grateful. I hope that as you’re heading full speed into the holidays you’ll be able to rejoice with us that the work of Clean Water for Haiti continues on, and not just a little, but with strength and determination. We’re still doing the things we’re good at, and lives are being changed every day because of it. Thank you for being part of that with us.
~Leslie
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