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ELECTRICAL WORKERS

Without Borders North America

We are making a difference


One project at a time

Projects we are
Proud to Be a Part Of!

Fondation Vincent –

Cap Haitien, Haiti

 

The Fondation Vincent is an education center administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco in
Cap Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city.

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The center provides hundreds of disadvantaged youth primary and secondary education and skills training in several crafts as well as support for an orphanage adjacent to the center.

 

In 2018, an EWWBNA delegation, led by EWWBNA founder Ed Hill, visited the Fondation Vincent and made commitments to improve the center’s electrical system. Shortly after, EWWBNA sent Wally St. Hilaire, a wireman from IBEW Miami Local 349, to work on a needs assessment which has led to a proposal for a 240kw solar array to replace the center’s dependency on outdated diesel generators and an unreliable grid that provides only 6 hours of electricity on a good day. But since then, political turmoil, increasingly violent gangs, and Covid-19 travel restrictions have caused EWWBNA to postpone the action plan.

 

Despite the unfortunate circumstance, the commitment to the Foundation Vincent continues. In video conferences with the Fondation Vincent, though intermittent due to limited internet, EWWBNA learned running water was the center’s most urgent need. Only one of four wells functioned, and that one well depended on a pump installed over 20 years ago.

 

Initially, EWWBNA planned to send a 6kw mobile solar unit along with well pumps to help alleviate the situation but learned connecting the unit to the center’s electrical infrastructure would be more complex than expected, and there were concerns also for securing the unit from theft.

 

In a conference call with the Fondation Vincent, EWWBNA President Don Siegel proposed a solar-well pump to meet the immediate need for water. The foundation director, Father Pierre, responded, “Yes. Water is life! We can locate a pump in Port-au-Prince”. 

 

Within a week, Father Pierre found a modest pump system to meet the needs of the residential area at a cost of $6,000. EWWBNA wired the funds, and, in less than a month, students in the electrical and welding workshops, under the supervision of instructors, installed the system. Father Pierre reports the system is working great.

 

Given the success of the solar-well pump, EWWBNA has agreed to fund a higher-capacity solar-pump system to meet the water needs of other parts of the campus.