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Helping Haiti

2011-03-22 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Global development · advocacy activism

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

On World Water Day, Hank reports from his trip with Water.org to Savann Tabak, a village near Pignon, Haiti, and introduces its well committee, explaining why Water.org requires a broad community coalition. Having seen how Water.org operates, he asks viewers to follow the village's progress and donate at my.water.org/vlogbrothers.

What is said

00:00:00 — Hank's easy morning water use costing about a nickel; World Water Day: how awesome our lives are

  • ★★ Hank says he used water again and again this morning, clean water that leaks out of somewhere if he jostles the silver fixtures, and all of it cost about one nickel. — 00:00:00
  • ★ The description says Hank's Seattle show is sold out and lists tickets for his Portland show on March 25. — 00:00:00 · Seattle, Portland, Oregon
  • ★★ Hank notes March 22nd is World Water Day and says we should take a moment to think about how freaking awesome our lives are. (hedged) — 00:00:25

00:00:32 — Hank's trip last week: Miami, Port-au-Prince, a small plane to Pignon with Water.org; Savann Tabak's letter to the mayor

  • ★★★ Hank says that last week he flew from Miami to Port-au-Prince, then on a small, bumpy plane to Pignon, to meet people there with Water.org and learn how they live. — 00:00:32 · Haiti
  • ★★ Hank says Pignon, in central Haiti, has about twenty thousand people, and the village of Savann Tabak about sixty households. — 00:00:40
  • ★★ Hank says Savann Tabak brought in one of Water.org's carefully selected local partners by sending the mayor of Pignon a letter explaining their situation. — 00:00:51

00:01:01 — The well committee and why Water.org requires a broad coalition, so the well belongs to the community

  • ★★★ Hank explains Water.org requires a well committee spanning genders, religions, neighborhoods and families, so the well becomes a community asset rather than one church's or family's. — 00:01:12
  • ★★ Hank says without the coalition the two men who wrote the letter could claim credit for the well, demand gratitude, or in the worst case sell water for personal profit. — 00:01:16
  • ★★ Hank says the two letter writers seemed a bit frustrated with the process, thinking Water.org should just drill the well and leave things as they were. (hedged) — 00:01:31

00:01:51 — Portraits of committee members, including a mother whose kids spend more time fetching water than at school and the youngest, frustrated member

  • ★★ Hank introduces the committee, saying that was mostly what he wanted to do: a tough woman he'd want representing him in government, a joking, respected old man, a quiet mother, and the youngest, fed up but not begging. — 00:01:51
  • ★★ Hank says one committee member was frustrated that her kids had been sick and spent more time fetching water than they did at school. — 00:02:09

00:02:44 — Follow the community at my.water.org/vlogbrothers; not all non-profits are equal; Hank asks viewers to donate to Water.org

  • ★★★ Hank asks viewers to go to my.water.org/vlogbrothers to follow the Savann Tabak community as it meets its milestones. — 00:02:48
  • ★★ Hank says Water.org has a very specific outline for a community to come together and build a sustainable water project that redefines the community, not a short-term fix. — 00:02:56
  • ★★★ Hank says a key lesson from Haiti is that not all non-profits are equal; having done due diligence on how Water.org operates, he is comfortable asking viewers to donate to it. — 00:03:06 · Haiti
  • ★★★ Hank says Savann Tabak has hard work ahead before it has sustainable water, but viewers can help: no amount is too great or small to help people out of a situation that sucks. — 00:03:17

00:03:29 — Thanks to Water.org and Haiti Outreach; Lisa Nova and Timothy DeLaGhetto's Haiti videos; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank thanks Water.org and Haiti Outreach, and points viewers to Lisa Nova's and Timothy DeLaGhetto's channels: they were in Haiti with him and made videos about it. — 00:03:29

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