PeopleMatter Helping Haiti

In the United States and the developed world, clean water is often taken for granted. You turn on a tap in your kitchen or bathroom, and the water is there. However, the same is not true for the rest of the world. Lack of access to clean water is a major problem. According to a 2008 UNICEF report, nearly one in eight people around the world lack access to safe water supplies.

In the aftermath of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, the crisis has become even more acute. When thousands jam into refugee camps, lack of clean water can lead to death by dehydration and contribute to the spread of diseases such as dysentery, cholera and typhus.

After a trip to Haiti this summer, the PeopleMatter Foundation found that Haiti still desperately needs clean water. Right now, the foundation has established partners to begin a community development project for a deaf community that desperately needs our help. Donations will go toward the building of the community for a school, medical facility, housing, micro-financing to build businesses, and clean water.