High in the mountains in southern Haiti sits the village of Dubois. The thriving church there has an active school (which is a part of RMI’s Hope for Kidz and Hot Lunch Program). On August 15, 2021, a 7.2 earthquake hit southern Haiti, heavily damaging many homes, businesses, schools, and churches. The Dubois school (built by RMI) was the only school in the area that stood firm. However, the church was very damaged. The village’s only source of water was an old 3,500-gallon cistern but it relies on rainwater to fill it, and there hasn’t been enough rain. RMI helped fill the cistern using our water truck in April. But it hasn’t been enough for the church, school, AND community.
Recently, the group of donors that are sponsoring the Hot Lunch Program at the school visited and became burdened by this community’s need for water as well as a new church building. They have undertaken an ambitious project - a first for RMI. Their goal is to build a 30,000-gallon cistern in the footprint of the old church, then rebuild the church ON TOP of the cistern. The water would be accessed by a solar pump. RMI’s construction team is there now carefully dismantling the rafters and tin roof (which were relatively new and in good condition) and any other parts of the building that can be salvaged to re-use in the new building (there is a dire shortage of building materials due to the gangs shutting down the capital and the roads south).
