Kay koule twompe soley men li pa twompe lapil.

A leaky house can fool the sun but it can't fool the rain.

In my previous post, I wrote some about DINEPA, the Haitian government’s water and sanitation department, and our complicated relationship and history with them.

Shopping for water system supplies a week or two ago, I actually encountered the DINEPA representative for Central Haiti where I am living. It was tense. He was not exactly pleased to see another Clemson engineer from a village where they give out clean water for free.

He knows, as well as I, that in order to build and maintain sustainable water systems, the community must take responsibility for it. If Haiti is ever going to free itself from its dependence on foreign aid, it must start paying for this basic amenity internally through taxes or some other form of fund collection from the people.

The water system in my village was constructed and is maintained by funds from the United States. The people have never had to pay for water. Asking them to pay for water now, after receiving it for free for so long now, would incite protests and riots and hundreds of people would once again be exposed to the dangers of contaminated water.

When the DINEPA agent recognized me, he saw a person who is almost actively undermining his goals, a person handing out free water courtesy of American donors. How can he ask another village to fund their own system when they could point to my village and its free water? How can I ask another village to fund their own system when they could point to another village and its free water?

Of course if DINEPA was efficient and successful then I wouldn’t be here in the first place. They have a history of constructing poorly designed water systems and the people know it. All the villages I have visited so far do not trust their own government to provide for them and for a good reason.

For example, here is a picture of a cistern and treatment system they have built. The treatment is inside the little building on top.

Here is a picture of the treatment they have inside right now:

As you can see, it’s missing a few vital components. Maybe all components.

DINEPA and Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries each have their strengths and weaknesses. They each have constructed water systems that are unsustainable due to poor treatment or poor community development. They each have a lot to learn. They each want to keep striving for sustainable water systems but these is where their goals diverge.

CEDC earnestly hopes that that DINEPA will one day surpass it in quality and efficiency. Personally, nothing would make me happier than for my job, as an expatriate engineer in Haiti, not to exist in 10 years.