In autumn 2016, hurricane “Matthew” caused massive damage to the island states of the Caribbean, killing well over 1,000 people. With wind speeds of up to 250 km/h, the violent tropical storm raged across the Caribbean and destroyed close on 30,000 homes. Torrential rainfall and floods also led to the collapse of the entire drinking water supply in some regions. For this reason, a total of ten Ujeta Care water filter systems continue to be used in Haiti through to this day. They are used to treat contaminated groundwater in seven child protection centres run by the charity Kindernothilfe Österreich. As a result, it is possible to supply over 300 children and young people locally with the thing they need most – clean drinking water.

But providing this support from UJETA proved very difficult. That was because, at first, there was no aid organisation able to handle the logistics involved or to guarantee that the aid packages, with a value of over EUR 20,000, would actually arrive safely to the crisis area. Eventually, however, two reliable partners were found: Kindernothilfe Österreich and the disaster relief agency Katastrophenhilfe Armut. In December, UJETA employee Michael Astl flew to Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and drove out to the Corridon child protection centre to train volunteer aid workers and also the children there in how to operate the water filters. It was a successful visit: through to today, the UJETA Care water filter systems have been in use non-stop every day, supplying children and young people with drinking water of spring-water quality.

Traumatised children are given therapy and support through play in the seven child protection centres run by Kindernothilfe Österreich and supported by UJETA, so that they can better process what they experienced during the natural disasters. Unhindered and direct access to clean drinking water is particularly important in child development. This is because something that we take for granted in Central Europe continues to present people in Haiti with massive challenges.

In many areas, people are still struggling to establish a stable water infrastructure, and the island state has been classified as a cholera area for many years. This infectious bacterial disease had previously spread over the entire island in 2010, following the major earthquake there. The reason for this was the extensive destruction of all sanitation infrastructure facilities. Children and young people are particularly at risk from the dangerous cholera bacteria, and to counteract this UJETA Care, with its optimally-matched filtration performance, ensures good-tasting and fresh drinking water. It achieves this without massive effort, and is very easy to use. Even very young children are able to produce around three litres of clean drinking water, in a matter of minutes – provided they have an efficient water filter system available.