Much of this innate community organizing and leadership was unrecognized by large aid organizations who have, for their part, scrambled to be effective, but have sadly not accessed what could be their most valuable tool. It is always the people most affected who have the greatest stake and the greatest ability to assure that help is truly help.
Knowing this fact, Beyond Borders has always relied on, and invested in, Haitian grassroots leadership. We have, for many years, worked to nurture partnerships, equip and empower local community groups with tools to develop leadership capacity and be effective. We believe that in this way we spark real change, change rooted in peoples desire to grow and have power in their own lives. Nurturing such leadership also enables a voice to be heard from the level of those seeking to provide aid.
Now cholera is reeking havoc throughout Haiti. It has been shown that when cholera enters a community that is not equipped with knowledge about the disease, the mortality rate among those affected can be as high as 40%. Armed with simple knowledge, the death rate drops to as little as 1%. Clearly knowledge saves lives. We believe that the most effective way of spreading this knowledge is through training and networking organizers from the communities most at risk. On Jan. 21 and 22 we brought over 50 community organizers together for a 1 ½ day medical and organizer training and exchange workshop. The response was overwhelming. Many have asked to do it again, and many others have expressed the desire to participate. Some traveled long distances, by foot and tap tap to be together. Many reported feeling empowered and connected in ways they hadn't before. We are planning a follow up on the 11 and 12 of February.
We have given small grants to four organizations, each with strong grassroots connections in the communities they serve. These grants have increased their ability to train and deploy organizers ranging from the tent cities of Port au Prince to hard to reach villages from the Artibonite Valley to the southern peninsula. We estimate over 110,000 people will receive vital training through these efforts, many of whom will be able to train others. Add to that that each person who receives this training is equipped to share it with many other neighbors, and the impact becomes exponential. We have no way of estimating how many lives will be saved through these efforts.
We are working with partner organizations in Haiti to access supplies such as water treatment capsules and hygiene kits through organizations like UNICEF and PROMESS for distribution along with training. We have also brought six inexpensive chlorinator systems that use sunlight, salt and water to make a purifying chlorine solution to treat water. This simple system weighing around 12 lbs., fits into a small plastic tool box, and can produce enough solution to treat water for 2,000 people a day. We are working together with local community organizers to find the best way to introduce this water purification system into communities and to design a three month implementation and monitoring strategy so that we can measure effectiveness. If it is as positive as we hope we will promote wider use of this promising method.
Of equal significance to accessing supplies is the method that we are working to nurture. People are becoming better equipped to deal with whatever future hardships will come. Unity truly is power, power to save lives, and power to meet seemingly insurmountable obstacles when faced alone. We are humbled to play a part in helping to facilitate unity and empowerment across barriers of geography, culture, class, and opportunity levels. Ultimately we know that this work not only saves lives, it enables people to have a powerful voice, and to gain control over personal and collective destiny.
Jeff Rogers