The Jolivert, Haiti Safe Water for Families Project

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Three research studies have been, or are being, conducted: MIT Project Evaluation In January 2003, MIT Master of Engineering student Genevieve Brin completed her thesis in Environmental Engineering studying the first 200 families that were enrolled in JSWF program. Ms. Brin's evaluation determined that: People enrolled in the program had 40% less diarrhea than those not enrolled People enrolled in the program that had chlorine residual in their drinking water at the time of the household visit (correct users) had 60% less diarrhea than those not enrolled People enrolled in the program had 10-20 times less bacteria in their water than those not enrolled People enrolled in the program that had chlorine residual in their drinking water at the time of the household visit (correct users) had 100 times less total coliform bacteria, and no E. coli bacteria in their water. Based on these positive results, it was recommended that the program be expanded to reach a larger population. Ms. Brin worked with the JSWF project to develop an expansion plan, particularly focusing on reaching children under five, the target of the intervention. Ms. Brin's thesis is available for download (PDF, 792 KB).   USAID and CDC Evaluation In May 2005, after the program had expanded from 200 families in a pilot project studied by Ms. Brin to 1,000 families, CDC and USAID conducted a follow-up evaluation to determine how the scale-up of the project was proceeding. The USAID/CDC evaluation determined that: The program was selling 600 bottles of solution per month 71% of households in the program randomly visited had chlorine residual in their household water The quality of the locally manufactured chlorine solution over the past year was good The record keeping in the program is stellar Based on these positive at-scale results, it was recommended that: The program be studied to assess user adoption preferences due the high quality record keeping New marketing and training materials be designed to capture the needs of a larger program A small USAID grant for capital investment purposes (purchase of a new generator, etc) be provided The project is ready to be duplicated in Gros Morne, a community approximately a 2 hour drive from Jolivert The USAID/CDC evaluation is available for download (PDF, 2.7 MB).   Emory User Adoption Study Based on the study conducted in May 2005 that identified the JSWF project as an ideal location to study user adoption of household water treatment due to the high quality of record-keeping and program management, USAID, CDC, and the JSWF worked together to identify a student to complete this research. Emory Masters of Public Health student Michael Ritter will complete this evaluation in Summer 2007. The aims of the study are to: Identify the social, economic, knowledge, and attitudinal differences between four groups of users who purchase the solution at different frequencies Explain the process by which one becomes a consistent user of the chlorine solution Identify barriers to correct, sustained, consistent use of the chlorine solution These aims will be reached by a combination of data analysis, interviews with users, resellers and technicians, and water quality testing. It is hoped that the results obtained from this evaluation can be generalized to understand why users adopt or do not adopt household water treatment interventions worldwide.