February 2011 Update: We were unprepared for the overwhelmingly generous responses, from Churches, individuals, Girl Scout Troops and families from Cape Cod and all over the country. Our filters have been making their way into the parts of Haiti that have been struck by the earthquake and then the hurricane. They have been hand carried by volunteer couriers, who have distributed them to schools and family groups. We are about to receive photos and will post them here. The letters of gratitude have been heartbreaking…..we will post some of these also this month. Communications have been sketchy and deteriorating from Haiti and we have had to be patient. Thank you to everyone who believes in sustainable solutions. The letter we wrote to the UN presented cost benefit ratios for sending filters instead of water…we will be posting that startling material as well. gordon peabody, 2/0-4/11
There are 3 good reasons to join us in sending water filters to Haiti: Cholera is spread through contaminated water; bottled water is heavy and very expensive to ship and the plastic bottles get left behind in mountains. Will a $20.00 water filter change the World? probably not by itself but if we send enough filters to change a family, school, a church or a village into a more sustainable, safer place to drink water, we may begin changing one small corner of the World. The filter our we have selected is affordable ($20) can provide over 40 gallons per day of drinkable water from puddles…for a year. With Haiti’s shipping infrastructure in ruins, we have been offered an opportunity to have friends doing relief work in the country, deliver the filters for us, directly to those in need. We must purchase these filters by the case, 30 to a case. Safe Harbor has invited churches, community groups and individuals to consider supporting our Haiti Water Project efforts by contributing small donations to purchase just a single filter or several filters. Deborah Peabody, sister of Safe Harbor Director Gordon Peabody, is a volunteer, coordinating our efforts and will provide you with gift cards, acknowledging your contribution in a friend’s name. Deborah can be contacted at her email below. Small donations are encouraged. They may be sent to Safe Harbor, PO Box 275, Provincetown, MA, 02657. If you are sending a check, please make it out to Safe Harbor and include the words “Haiti Water Project” on the memo line. If you would like a gift card, let us know at that time.
Deborah Peabody <deborahlena@gmail.com>
For more specific information on these filters, already in use in Haiti and elsewhere in the world, use this link:
Christmas update: the first cases of filters are on their way to be distributed in Haiti, hand carried by a medical team member. A second delivery will be made by a friend who is involved in an aid organization. He will be delivering a boat to Haiti and a third delivery may be made by volunteers working for an aid agency in Miami. Thank you to the hundreds of people, organizations and churches that have supported this project. A special thank you goes out to two people, Kristyna Smith and Deborah Peabody, who work as project coordinator and fund raising coordinator, respectively.
Kristyna Smith, Haiti Water Initiative, Project Coordinator
Deborah Peabody, Haiti Water Initiative, fund raising coordinator
Thank you for supporting sustainable solutions, Gordon Peabody, Director, Safe Harbor