Clean Water for Haiti

I sit here writing this 13 years later. It's crazy to think that in 2005 I went down to Haiti to help out this non-profit. Thirteen years later that experience is still making an impact on me. The year before I visited Haiti I had gone to Guatemala - my first real third-world experience. But nothing could prepare me for Haiti. There was the third-world and there is Haiti.

I really took for granted access to clean water in the states. I didn't really understand how big an issue it was in Haiti and how it affected everyone, especially the mortality rate of children. It is huge! Watching families fill up water from garbage filled streams just broke my heart.
While I was in Haiti for a week I helped build these great bio-sand water filters and deliver them. Chris Rolling runs Clean Water for Haiti (now with his wife Leslie), educated our group on the issues Haiti faced and how CWFH was helping out. His group was realistic with us about our time in the country and what we would see was always looking out for our safety.

The biggest impact, however, the country had on me was the people itself. I was in awe of how grateful people can be who have next to nothing. A family living in a one-room dirt hut invited my group in for food. Children at an orphanage we visited were so joyous amidst everything going on around them. It was one thing after another.

I have yet to go back to Haiti but I still keep in contact with a couple people from there. My heart longs to go back and visit again but life gets in the way. I think about my experiences there with CWFH and the people quite a bit still 13 years later and I would love to go back and help them out again if given the chance.
-Jefferson

This is an awesome organization! We lived and worked in Haiti for almost 2 years with 3 months being with this organization and it by far the best to deal with out of all that we worked with. Chris and Leslie are awesome people and really have a heart for the Haitian people. This mission is doing an awesome job bringing filters to the Haitian people so they can have clean water. I would highly recommend this organization to anyone!

Love supporting a hands on org. Of all the charities we donate to Clean Water for Haiti is the probably the only one that I know whats going on thanks to Leslie's constant updates via newsletters or blog. Keep up the good work

I have been impressed with Clean Water for Haiti from the very first that I heard about it. This is a 'grass-roots' organization that is working very hard to provide clean, safe water and the hygiene education to go with it to the people of "the most water-impoverished nation" on the planet. Furthermore, they are doing this in such way that local economy in Haiti is benefiting and the culture is both respected and positively impacted. Chris and Leslie Rolling, the local people they have working with them on the ground in Haiti, and the people that are working behind them in the US and in Canada clearly exemplify the motto: "Do it well. Do it right." This is an organization well worth your time, consideration, and support.

Clean Water for Haiti is a wonderful mission. Chris and Leslie and their staff do a great job helping the people of Haiti live a better life starting with the most basic of necessities, clean water. They have impacted the lives of many and they do this every day. I'm very happy that I am able to be a part of this mission. I believe in what they do with my whole heart. Thanks Chris and Les for all you do for the people of Haiti. :)

We demand a lot of financial accountability when we donate and Clean Water for Haiti has always responded quickly and completely to our requests for information about past and planned expenditures. When we compare them with other similar charities the per unit cost of filters is the lowest we have seen.

I began working with Clean Water for Haiti because my wife started doing volunteer work for them after a trip to Haiti where she saw what they were doing. Because of my computer skills I ended up doing all kinds of computer-related tasks, Joining the board was just the next step for me. Why? One of multiple-choice questions here is "How much of an impact do you think this organization has?" and the best answer is "life-changing". The scale should be extended to "life-saving" for CWH. That's literally the impact. Too many water projects around the world are "one and done": dig a well, put in a pump, and declare a small victory, or worse, put in a complex, unsustainable system. CWH's approach recognizes what works better. It's not just that the water filters are an effective and appropriate technology. They know how to get the filters to people in a way that helps ensure they'll be used and maintained on an ongoing basis.

This is an outstanding organization. Not only are they helping to provide clean water, but they are creating jobs and bringing hope to a very needy place.

I volunteered with Clean Water for Haiti in 2008 for six months. I helped with a variety of projects and loved being able to live and work alongside them. The organization understands the country and the people they are working with very well. This is essential and allows them to have a huge impact with those they are serving. Haiti is a hard place to work and this organization is one of the few I met there that was one the ground, empowering people to change their lives and not just giving hand-outs. Most of the work being done is by locals they have trained and who are equipped to help their own families, communities, and country as a whole. They do an awesome job at teaching about sanitation, water quality and health in the training classes they hold. They distribute thousands of filters every year that help people with the basic need for clean water. This helps prevent disease and sickness, hospital visits, and medication expenses that result for poor water. I was grateful to get to work with them and learned so much about how to really help people who are need. I saw first-hand how to not perpetuate the cycle of poverty people or create paternalism with those you are serving. Great organization, great people, great work!

I am the director of Clean Water for Haiti but I am also a donor. I know people from many different organizations around Haiti that are doing good work, but I feel that we help more people with a more efficient use of donor money than just about any other org I can think of. I started working with Clean Water for Haiti in 2003, first as a volunteer and then later as director. I thank God that he led me in the direction to serve Him in this ministry and I pray that we can help more and more people gain access to clean water in the years to come.

I have been a donor to Clean Water for Haiti for several years. Before I met Chris Rolling I never knew Haiti did not have access to safe drinking water, which is appalling in the 21st century. I also had never heard of a biosand filter. Many charitable organizations ship bottled water or chemical additives, both of which encourage dependance on the organization. Biosand filters are self sustaining and use local materials. They are inexpensive to produce and cost nothing to maintain. They do not require a power supply. They are made by local Haitian people who are employed by Clean Water for Haiti. Besides making filters, the organization also trains people to make their own filters so they can start a business. Clean Water for Haiti is about clean water and community development.

As a local missionary in the area, the ministry I serve with has used Clean Water's filters for some times. Their outreach to the area and the country has been a great blessing and a wonderful way to get clean, safe water to our students as well as for our own personal use, when need be. Clean Water is an upstanding nonprofit I am proud to be associated with!

Clean water for Haiti provides bio-sand filters for Haitians. Their filters are built to last and very dependable. I personally live in Haiti near their organization and see first hand the binifets of their filters. We use them at our school and orphanage. Over 150 students depend on their filter everyday to have clean water at the school.

I've known about Clean Water for Haiti basically since it started and I've supported it as I was able throughout the years. They are doing really great and focused work and I'm certain they are the best at what they do in Haiti: making, distributing and maintaining water filters. Water filters save lives every day in Haiti.

While working in Haiti at an orphanage, we gave all our staff the gift of a water filter from Clean Water for Haiti for their homes as well as getting a couple for the orphanage. Clean Water for Haiti was great to work with. They come out and install all the filters explaining how to use them in simple terms. The filters are well made and work great - even visiting teams to the orphanage never had any problems with the water from the filters. I would strongly recommend a CWH filter to anyone.

I was first drawn to working with Clean Water for Haiti because of the simplicity of the project and their approach to working with the Haitian people. It's been five years now and I'm still a member of their volunteer staff. I'm so proud to be associated with this organization. I know that everyday we are saving lives through the work we do. I love that I can use my skills to make a difference in the lives of so many people every year.

Last March (2010), I had the opportunity to participate with the non-profit "Clean Water for Haiti." I was able to witness firsthand the dedicated individuals that work for this organization. They were there committed to giving the people of Haiti clean drinking water. In a country torn by such a horrific natural disaster there are many organizations who come to help, but unfortunately, leave to quickly. "Clean Water for Haiti" has been there and will continue to be there to make sure the people of Haiti get the clean drinking water they deserve. They made me feel like part of their family, and witnessing the hardships of the country and their mission to make a better life for them changed my life forever. The work that they do with installing sand filters in people's homes is amazing. I look forward to volunteering my time in the future to helping this organization fulfill their commitment and help the people of Haiti get the clean drinking water they need. Frank Evert President of Water Without Borders, Corp