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\nAn anxious and excited throng dashes towards the water truck as it pulls up outside the shanty camp of makeshift shelters in Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n
Story by Julian Lukins, Photos by Ray Tollison (World Relief International)<\/p>\n
\nAn anxious and excited throng dashes towards the water truck as it pulls up outside the shanty camp of makeshift shelters in Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n
Such dry, dusty camps have become home for thousands of Haiti\u2019s earthquake survivors.\u00a0 None has any water supply \u2013 except for what comes in the 3,000-gallon trucks.<\/p>\n
When World Relief\u2019s water truck arrives, scores of women and children carrying buckets and other containers rush forward to get in line \u2013 desperate not to miss out on their water ration.\u00a0 As the water flows, frantic mothers jostle for position to fill their containers quickly \u2013 worried that the supply might run out before they\u2019ve filled their own buckets.<\/p>\n
In the past few days, World Relief\u2019s team has delivered 20 truck loads of water, a total of 64,000 gallons, to thirsty quake survivors in the camps \u2013 literally a lifeline for some 12,000 households living on the very edge.<\/p>\n
Living Water<\/strong><\/p>\n At each camp or delivery location, World Relief appoints a community representative who is responsible for accepting the water and making sure that it gets into the hands of vulnerable families.<\/p>\n At this location, 27-year-old Penel \u2013 a local church member \u2013 is accountable to World Relief for the water distribution.<\/p>\n Penel explains that he is a Christian \u2013 a member of the local Assemblies of God Church.\u00a0 In this camp and its sprawling neighbor camps, about 700 members of his local church have set up makeshift shelters, built out of tarp, faded sheets, sticks and scrap corrugated metal.\u00a0 Every day is a struggle to find enough food and water.<\/p>\n \u201cThis water is life to us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Penel explains that his church \u2013 like many other churches \u2013 was destroyed in the quake, so now the congregation gathers outside the church, or in the camp, to pray and worship together.<\/p>\n \u201cWe share water and food together,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cAs a Christian, I am ready to help others in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n World Relief continues to deliver water to the most vulnerable survivors, ensuring they have water to drink, cook with, and bathe with.<\/p>\n At a local orphanage, World Relief\u00a0drilled a borehole\u00a0to provide clean water for the children and the community surrounding the orphanage.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will make a very big difference,\u201d says Pastor Pierre Alexis, head of the orphanage that is home to nearly 60 children.\u00a0 \u201cWe are planning to invite people from the community to come and get water here.\u00a0 It is important to show people the real Jesus \u2013 the One who cares not only for their body, but also for their soul.\u00a0 If you follow Jesus, you must show it through your actions, not just say it.\u201d<\/p>\n Clean water \u2013 dangerously scarce immediately after the January 12 quake \u2013 is absolutely critical, says Warren Wright, World Relief\u2019s project manager at the scene.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to provide clean drinking water that will keep the children free of diseases,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
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