“That’s it! It is all gone!” The last bit of diesel fuel had been used during an emergency baby delivery at the Clinic of Hope. That meant no lights and no water from the well.
Because of the instability in Haiti at that time, there was no fuel in the country. Even with the Haitian staff’s best efforts to stock up and conserve, the clinic had run out of diesel fuel by the end of October.
The Haitian staff responded. The crisis committee, which had been formed in Terre Blanche to make decisions on distribution of emergency funding and food from HFH, wrote a proposal requesting funding to increase solar power capacity and storage. The proposal was sent and quickly approved by the HFH board. Funds were available because donors had designated gifts for emergency relief during this time.
There is a Haitian Creole saying that roughly translates “to find a way” – this was needed now.
Solar panels and batteries were located in Port-au-Prince but getting them to Terre Blanche was no small task. Our in-country partners needed to find a way. Finding a day when the bank was open, finding a day to buy the items when the city was not locked down, finding a route that was not under protest and finding fuel for the four hour trip north were all obstacles to overcome.
A way was found and the additional solar panels and batteries were purchased, transported and installed by the Haitian staff in early December.
Now the Clinic of Hope does not have to be dependent on diesel fuel for lights and water.
Thank you to all who gave so generously to make this possible. This was clearly a team effort and a way was found.
by Steve Bressler, HFH board member
Solar panels on Clinic of Hope roof.
Battery bank to provide power at night.
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