Life Change in Lubin: A Healing Waters Story

Back in December, Healing Waters International Development Associate Sam Chappell wrote about our recent trip to Haiti. We’re sharing his take today, so you can see 1040.com’s passion from a different angle. Enjoy!

December 7, 2017

Last week, I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti with a group from 1040.com. (If you haven’t checked them out, you should. They’re an excellent example of how a business can contribute to ending the Global Water Crisis.)

We were able to visit water projects in the densely populated neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince as well as those we’ve implemented alongside our strategic partner, Compassion International, in some of the more rural areas. We heard stories from the site partners of the economic benefit each water project is having on the community and, more importantly, the life-changing impact clean water is having on the health and vitality of the community members. Each story was a testament to the success of our holistic WASH model!

On our last day, we jumped in the car and headed to a community called Lubin. It was three hours from Port-au-Prince on the highway, one hour on a dirt road, and an additional hour on the back of the motorcycle. Despite all my travels throughout South America and Africa, Lubin was the most impoverished community I have ever seen. Most of the families in Lubin are humble rice farmers who live in mud homes and do all they can to provide for their loved ones.

Despite the extreme poverty in this community, Lubin has a very important asset — it sits on the bank of the largest river in Haiti. With the recent implementation of a clean water project that pumps directly from the Artibonite River, citizens of Lubin now have access to safe drinking water. As they now drink clean water, these residents will continue to recover from waterborne illnesses they contracted by drinking directly from the river. This clean water project in Lubin will continue the path toward improving their community.

After seeing the incredible opportunity for life change in Lubin through access to clean water, I was reminded of the validity of this quote from the United Nations in 2008: “No other single intervention is more likely to have a significant impact on global poverty than the provision of safe water” (Schuster-Wallace et al., 2008).

Everything we do here at 1040.com to help further the vision to end the global water crisis is made possible by you. Even if you file a free federal return, we donate $2 to Healing Waters International, which translates to two months of clean water for someone in a developing country. That’s how filing your taxes — even filing your taxes for free — can help change the world.