By Austin Arnold, Icon BGSU intern
Note: Jim and Jodi Mohney, Midwest directors of Living Water International, will speak at English Lutheran Church at 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 21.
They will show a video and discuss the world-wide need for clean water. They will also explain the efforts of Living Water International with pump repair, drilling wells and hygiene in many Third World countries and especially Haiti.
Bob Fett of Bluffton, and a member of English Lutheran Church, recently volunteered in Haiti with Living Water International. The story that follows is about his trip.
Bob Fett of Bluffton has made at least 15 trips to Haiti in the past 11 years. His last trip was just at the end of this January, and while his reason for visiting was under usual circumstances, the scene, however, was quite different this time around.
Bob is a part of Living Water International, a faith-based organization based in Houston, Texas, dedicated to providing those in underdeveloped countries with clean water. Many times this includes repairing or replacing hand water pumps. Even though Bob said he knew what to expect to see on this trip after the earthquake hit, some sites were still hard to witness for him.
"I visited the city where the epicenter was, which is about the size of Lima, and about 90 percent of the buildings there were on the ground," Bob said. "Its difficult to see a big building in rubble where you know people died there."
Even in the middle of disaster, Bob hopes that some positives come out of the attention that Haiti is receiving.
"Haiti is on the radar now, so to speak, and other countries are coming to aid. It's been one of the poorest countries in this hemisphere and the government has been corrupt and a lot of things have happened there that shouldn't."
In Bob's latest trip, he traveled from the northern part of the country to Port-au-Prince and then to the suburb just south of the capital city where the epicenter of the earthquake was. Along with another LWI member, Bob was able to replace 16 pumps in about 10 days throughout several communities. Most water pumps that Bob replaced were not damaged by the earthquake, however, most just need attention Bob said.
"Most people don't realize if a pump is broke, people in that community have to go to a river or a man-dug well, which are always contaminated, for their source of water and 1,000 people could easily be depending on one water pump. Clean water is the first source for good health, you need it to drink and you need it for hygienic purposes as well."
Bob has been affiliated with LWI for three years now and he's been traveling to Haiti regularly for over a decade. Bob was in construction for 25 years and used to be a part of construction projects that built schools in Haiti through the mission work with a church in Lima. During one of those trips, he learned of LWI and was immediately interested in their organization.
Others in Bluffton will have a chance to gain more information, if they are interested, about LWI. The Midwest director of LWI speak at English Lutheran Church, Bluffton on Sunday evening, Feb. 21.
Upon returning to Bluffton to his family, Bob admitted that it can be a struggle to keep a certain perspective.
"We live in such affluence here, it's almost hard to enjoy what you have when you know so many people have so much less. A lot of people there have a hard life, and I have to keep going back to keep that reality check in place," he said.
And Bob is certainly keeping that check in place by planning on returning to Haiti in about 30 days. On his next trip, Bob and other members will attempt one of their largest projects: the repair and or replacement of 50 pumps.
