Haiti Water For Life Project
The Haiti Water For Life Project was born out a trip that one of our members, Roy Sheldrick and his wife Norma took to The Hopital Albert Schweitzer in 1996. They were on a work team led by a Hamilton doctor, Dr. Everett Sargeant and his wife Arlene. This trip turned out to be a life changing experience for Roy and Norma and is very typical of the International development work which is carried out by Rotarians around the world. For a personal testimonial on how the Water For Life Program developed read Roy's account of the work to date. The story of Water For Life is ongoing and is one of the major charitable projects of the Ancaster Rotary Club. To date, over $800,000 has been raised and invested in bringing clean, safe and accessible water to the people of The Artibonite. The provision of safe potable water is one of the key objectives defined in the Haiti Action Plan as outlined by the World Health Organization report on the country. The Work ContinuesThe work in the region continues each year as more and more wells are drilled and new sources of clean water are tapped. In fall of 2006 a new 7,000 foot pipeline was built through Water For Life to bring water from a mountain spring to 20,000 people in the valley. Well number 125 was also opened.... 
bringing water to one more village.
Donors and Sponsors Provide Core FinancingThe project is financed through a variety of vehicles, but the core financing comes from the fund raising efforts of The Rotary Club of Ancaster and other Rotary Clubs who have joined in the effort. In addition, through Roy Sheldrick's work as a guest presenter the story has been told to many church groups and individuals who have added their support to the project. This core financing is then leveraged through funding from the Rotary International Foundation which is one of the largest privately financed foundations in the world. With the leveraged contributions from the Foundation the money raised through Water For Life is expanded to be able do even more work. This is one of the America's poorest countries which has suffered even more because of the political unrest which has plagued the country in the past few decades. The 300,000 people in
the Artibonite Valley and all of Haiti face an extremely difficult future.
Through the medical work of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital and the clean water which the wells and pipeline can provide, some of the basic determinants of better health can finally come to the people of the valley.
December 2007 UpdateIn December 2007, Roy Sheldrick was joined by District 7090 District Governor, Bob Leek and Past District Governor Bob Bruce as well as Past District Governor, Doug Vincent of District 7080 at a World Water Development Conference in Port au Prince Haiti. Roy Sheldrick presented a real world update to the Ancaster Rotary Club PDG, Doug Vincent has provided some of his observations on Haiti and Water Development in the Artibonite Valley.
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