Water Lessons in Haiti

As efforts in Haiti turn from relief to recovery, Change.org sits down to talk with Karl Hofmann, President and CEO of Population Services International (PSI). A global health organization that works to harness market-driven solutions in the fight to combat issues from malaria to HIV, PSI has been working on the ground in Haiti for 20 years.

Hofmann spoke with Change.org about access to clean water in Haiti, lessons learned and the success stories they have seen:

PSI's top priority in Haiti has been helping secure access to clean water. What did access look like prior to the quake, and what strategies are you using now?

Access to water has been our priority for awhile now, though we've also been doing HIV work with condoms for many years and malaria work. Even prior to the quake, water access was horrible -- really appalling, especially for kids. Right now, we're using a chlorinated water solution, sold in small bottles, which can be used to treat household water. There's also a Proctor and Gamble product that we've used in Haiti, PUR, which you dissolve into water and stir. Since people are probably going to be living in refugee-like settings or camps for awhile, that's where this sort of solution can be really helpful.

In past weeks, commentators have been weighing in about the challenges of aid in Haiti. PSI has worked in Haiti for 20 years on a range of issues -- what are the success stories you'd tell?

We've been using a companion product to oral rehydration salt (ORS) for awhile [to help treat dehydration]. All our products in Haiti haven't been donor-funded for awhile, so we sell it as a cost-recovery product. It's a success that we've gotten our ORS product to the point that there's enough commercial infrastructure to carry it. Mothers in Haiti are willing to pay a cost to keep the product in the market, and that's a development success for us. As you know, ORS is a miracle product that happens to suffer from not being very sexy, in terms of funders, but we are passionate about it everywhere we can use it.

The lesson we take from Haiti is that marketing can be a very powerful way to ensure increased use of a lifesaving product. There doesn't have to be a negative or positive price attached to a product -- we're agnostic about that. It could just mean using vouchers that pay people to do the right thing. But we have to be able to apply market discipline to reach vulnerable communities -- that's one thing we've seen through our work in Haiti and other countries.

One of the conversations I've had lately is with the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti's Brian Concannon, on the importance of partnering with the Haitian government in recovery efforts. What have PSI's efforts looked like on that front?

We've talked about the need for a post-government to own and lead the response to development challenges, but in Haiti, that's proven to be unnaturally hard. It's an outgrowth of almost 200 years of poor governance, and failed governance. Now, you can debate what the causes are there, and who's responsible, but ultimately the Haitian people pay the price. Development problems are fundamentally as much or more a problem of government and leadership than resources. So Haiti bears a double burden there: a deficit in governance, as well as in resources.

Looking forward, how is PSI positioning itself? What sort of timeframe are you thinking about for your efforts?

We're not a relief organization, so our timescale is much longer. We've been in Haiti for 20 years, and I assume we'll be in Haiti for 20 more years. Before this tragedy, the health challenges were already significant -- and despite the international community's best work this time, they'll be huge even after everyone's gone home...But while there are long-term development challenges, there's also a real prospect of success. The more Haiti takes ownership of those challenges, the better, and we want to be there supporting them.

Photo Credit: UN Photo/Sophia Paris