Ryan Rowe is the Executive Director of HANWASH, Inc., a collaborative national initiative to provide safe, sustainable and affordable water and sanitation to all the citizens of Haiti, along with the associated health, community and economic benefits.
We are all familiar with the success Rotary has had with respect to the elimination of polio. Ryan attributes the success to three things:
- Advocacy
- Fundraising
- Service
He believes the water sector in Haiti should follow the same recipe in pursuing the HANWAN goals. Past efforts have not been sustainable in the absence of a systematic process with local support from a Rotary Club in Haiti. Ryan says that the local community must have skin in the game.
HANWAN was created in 2018. Since then there have been six Rotary global grants. Our district (# 6290) is among the districts on board.
It is also possible for individual clubs to become involved through the Adopt-a-Well program under which the U.S. club works with a local club in Haiti. Ryan told a touching story of what a Haitian girl must do to obtain water from a village well.
To watch the recording of Ryan's presentation, you can click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt08_CuZqYM