Eagles Deliver in Haiti

Clean water was vital for the survival of Haiti earthquake victims. Michelle Oetman looks at how ADRA is helping with the crisis.

At a glance, they look like four bikers riding by, then pulling to the roadside. As their motorbikes come to a stop, the pair on each bike quickly dismount, set down a large, yellow box then erect a table between the two bikes. A small crowd soon gathers around them, curious.

In fact, the bikers are integral to providing vital clean water to devastated communities and displaced persons in the tent cities and camps throughout earthquake- ravaged Port-au-Prince, from early 2010.

The yellow box is an ingenious water purification system called a Trekker, which is powered by a motorbike. The Trekker is a portable “briefcase” containing a pump and hoses, which can furnish enough clean water over eight hours to supply the emergency water needs of up to 330 people.

The Trekkers are supplied by Global- Medic. ADRA hired and dispersed an initial 20 local motorbike drivers to carry the devices to locations around the city, where water is available but undrinkable. Once the Trekkers are operational, the riders dispense drinking water into containers brought by those who are simply existing nearby.

The drivers, who named themselves Les Aigles (“The Eagles”)—because they’re light and can fly by jammed traffic or crumbled, blocked roads— also hand out water purification tablets during their day-long shift. For their work, the drivers are given food, a small salary and reimbursement for their petrol costs. The cost of this vital work is relatively low, and given the ease of access of bikes to distribution points throughout the earthquake-affected areas, the project is expected to grow to 50 teams.

Walix, father of four young girls, was anxious for food and eager to join one of the ADRA Eagles teams. The roof of his house had caved in, forcing him and his family to sleep on the street. During the earthquake, a wall of his home fell on his sister, who lives with him, and a child sustained injuries to her leg, while another received head injuries. But all survived.

Ironically, although an Eagle, Walix doesn’t have water at his own home. Nevertheless, he committed to driving through the city to provide emergency water for his fellow Haitians.

Walix had never heard of ADRA before the earthquake, but pressed as to what ADRA means to him now, asks, “Do you see where ADRA is?” Then pointing to the bib he and the team wears, adds, “ADRA is on my heart.

” His partner at the water site, Joseph, tells much the same story. He, his wife and three small children now live on the ground close to their completely flattened home. His family all survived, but his brother suffered a broken arm when a wall of his home fell. Joseph says he decided to be an ADRA Eagle because he’d heard, as he said, that “ADRA always helps the poor people. . . . I saw people here in a difficult situation. They have no water. They needed help!” He enjoys being that help. “The people are so happy to get the drinking water.”

The technology for the Trekker’s unique water purification systems is provided by GlobalMedic, one of ADRA’s partner organisations in the response efforts in Port-au-Prince. GlobalMedic team members also train the Eagles and scout the locations for Trekker placement each day.

Weeks after the earthquake devastated their lives, Haitians are still desperate for basic needs such as clean water. Joseph and Walix are examples of people helping people to help Haiti. It’s an example they hope others will follow, providing manpower and resources to rebuild their homes and lives.