The Heart Of Hollywood Foundation

03/21/2018

Update on our Sobier Haiti water project: Our driller Troy w/ Water For Life in Haiti is down about 500 ft. We have about 100-150 ft of pipe remaining, so keep some positive thoughts coming!!

03/13/2018

It is a bittersweet day today filled with mixed emotions. Woke up this morning to hear we lost a good friend to cancer. I was then notified by our Haitian partners, Water For Life in Haiti, that their drill truck made it up the mountainside and now in Sobier. They will start drilling on Wednesday. This is a community whose children and women walk nearly 3 hrs each day for water. Our work is something Dean often asked about and strongly supported. This is for you, Dean. May you watch over us and bring us luck in finding water. Love you, my friend. R.I.P.

Michael & Ed

02/10/2018

A little something to get your Saturday started...

02/05/2018

Picture by Dominican Tourism Influencer Decades of bad Public Relations affects Haiti to the point that, any mention of this country is automatically attached to the most impoverishe…

01/29/2018

Looking forward to snail mailing our deposit check to Water For Life in Haiti this morning!

Q: How are we/HHF using the (your) $5,350?

A: Your donations will cover our/HHFs portion (55%) of the cost to drill 150ft into the mountainside. *** WFL Haiti, our partner, will contribute 45% ($4,365) and provide the labor and equipment.

Q: Does the $5,350 cover all drilling expenses?

A: Drilling is not cheap. Each addl foot of earth we move beyond 150ft will cost $55. Again, HHF will cover 55%. WFL 45%.

Q: Are there other costs besides drilling?

A: Yes. HHF will cover 100% of the costs for the transportation and installation of the pump and accessories, solar system, water station, plumbing and pump house. This will range between $4,000-$8,000 USD depending on the depth of the well.

Q: How will the community access the water?

A: The well we are sponsoring will be connected to a water station built into the front security wall of our new community health clinic (see photos on our wall). The well will also be connected to a 5,000 gal water cistern. During sunny weather, a pump will supply water to the water station and cistern. During cloudy days when the pump is not running, the cistern will supply water to the water station.

Q: How many people can one well serve?

A: It depends on the flow of the water. One well should easily be able to serve at least 350 people and 50 heads of livestock every day.

Q: Is one well enough for the community?

A: Most likely not. Here is the good news. We met with WFL in Sobier last week and they have witnessed the dire need for water in village. They have agreed to drill at least one, maybe two more wells...using their own funds!

Q: Is there any investment from the community?

A: Yes! While the villagers are extremely poor (most making less than $1 USD / 63 goudes per day), they are expected to contribute materials (rock, sand, cement) to help build the water station. Approx 2500 goudes (about $40 USD). They are also leading the efforts to make improvements to the mountainside road for the WFL vehicles.

Q: This is great! When will we start drilling?

A: Glad you asked! The answer is....Very Soon! Rainy season is coming. The road conditions will become worse. As soon as the community has made the necessary repairs, WFL will make the 3hr trek from Les Cayes in the south to Sobier. We are hoping to begin within the next 10-14 days. We will have U.S. based partner team from Santa Monica CA on site starting Feb 16th to assist.

Q: What can I do to help?

A: Besides positive vibes for finding water?? We could truly use your help in spreading the word and sharing our GoFundMe campaign (see link in comments below). If we have to drill to 750ft deep, we are still about $3000 short of covering all expenses. Have $5 to spare? We will take it! EVERY PENNY HELPS. EVERY PENNY goes to bringing fresh water to Sobier. We know how precious water can be in Haiti. Water Is Life. So is your money. We do not waste either one.

Thank you for supporting our work in Haiti!

HHF

01/22/2018

A few photos from our January 2018 trip Sobier Haiti where we painted the clinic/bathroom-showers/cistern, installed PVC rain gutters and met with Water for Life to begin planning for wells in the village.

01/22/2018

Mountain road to Sobier.

01/22/2018

Sobier Haiti well project in partnership with Water For Life in Haiti. More photos to come once we start drilling (hopefully by start of February).

01/21/2018

Orvwa, Ayiti! Until next time...

01/21/2018

Project Update...

Apologies for the delay in sending an update. Cell service in Haiti has been horrible most of the week.

We met with Water for Life in Sobier this past Thursday. We still have a little more work to do to repair the road going up to the village in order for them to get their drill rig up the mountain. Our goal is to have that competed by the end of January.

The WFL Haitian team was very troubled by the poverty in the village, the obvious signs of malnutrion and birth defects and seeing children walk many hours for water in the blistering heat. They informed us that they are willing to donate their own time and funds in attempt to drill a 2nd well at no cost to us. If both drillings go smoothly and they find water quickly, they may consider drilling a 3rd well. We were without words.

We are hoping to drill just outside the perimeter walls of the clinic we finished building in 2017. It is near the center of the village. We have a 5000 gallon cistern that we plan to connect to the well and watering stations that we will help the community build.

But first things first, we need to find water. There is a large bamboo tree and an enormous mango tree within 10-30ft (see photos), so the WFL team feels positive about the location. They have drilled more than 1800 wells in Haiti, so are we going to have to trust their instinct and knowledge of the countryside. We would still appreciate you sending some positive thoughts our way!

We are about $4k short from being able to fully fund a 700-750ft well. Could you please share this page with your friends and family.

Sending everyone lots of love and smiles from Haiti.

Michael Kelley, Ed Olen and Johnny Nicoloro

Sobier, Haiti 2018 | Help us Drill for Water Your generous giving through our GoFundMe campaign is 100% tax-deductible as permitted by law. This will be our (The Heart of Hollywood Foundation) 9th year helping to bring aid to communities in Haiti. We have been working in the country since sh...