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While Haiti continues its reconstruction efforts two years after a devastating earthquake, ONE DROP is delighted to see that its water-access and sanitation project in the Léogâne region is already contributing to improve the living conditions of the region’s communities. Several thousand people are now benefitting from the positive impacts of the Haiti Project, an initiative carried out in collaboration with OXFAM-Québec, in one of the zones most devastated by the January 2010 earthquake.

By the end of the project in October 2013, 108,000 men, women and children will see their living conditions improved. Concretely, 160 family wells and over 1,500 metres of field irrigation canals have been built and rehabilitated with the goal of improving the yield of the next agricultural campaigns. What is more, two of the six water community centres planned are being rehabilitated. 

In addition to its technical water-access and sanitation component, the Haiti project advances social art as an awareness and mobilization tool. Through the multidisciplinary show “Ayiti pawol Lapli ak Lakansyèl” (Haiti: Words of Rain and Rainbows), ONE DROP plans to reach over 87,500 spectators and raise the consciousness of the Port-au-Prince and Léogâne populations on water issues.

View the press release here.

Created in 2009 for the 20th anniversary of Infiniti and the 25th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil^®, the Infiniti G37 car was auctioned on November 12 in order to raise money for ONE DROP. Montreal artist Heidi Taillefer spent over 300 hours to paint by hand the outside of the vehicle. An anonymous buyer has purchased the work for the sum of $ 55 000, which will go to projects in developing countries.

"We are thrilled to have the support of Infiniti, especially since the proceeds from this auction will go directly to the organization’ Project El Salvador," said Lili-Anna Pereša, executive director of ONE DROP. More specifically, through its Project El Salvador, ONE DROP seeks to improve the quality of life and earning power of the inhabitants of Cacaopera and Corinto in the Morazàn department—the country’s poorest region. This initiative will directly impact some 12,000 men, women and children. It will furthermore affect the lives of more than 22,000 individuals indirectly through the project’s social art and popular education program.

The official launch of ONE DROP’s Project India took place in Bhubaneswar on November 16, 2011. The three year project aims to improve access to safe water and raise the Orissa population’s awareness of the need to protect this precious resource through social arts and popular education.

During the first project phase, Natya Chetana, a local partner, will give 10 representations of its theatre show called “Thirst”. Bakul Foundation, another partner, will start a series of educational arts based workshops. The following phases will demonstrate: three more theatre shows to be produced and tour 100 villages; film making workshops for youth and production of video clips; and circulation of social art forms in local trains, all initiatives focusing on water and sanitation to raise awareness of 55,000 people in Ganjam district. ONE DROP will also join forces with Gram Vikas, a non-governmental organization (NGO) working with underprivileged and marginalized populations in rural Orissa since 1979. Gram Vikas will coordinate the project’s technical component and work with the locals to build water and sanitation installations, ensuring their longevity through grassroots application in their communities.

In addition to the $1.1 million contribution announced last September from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the project’s principal partner and ONE DROP founding partner, United Technologies Corp (NYSE:UTX) confirmed a multiyear financial and product contribution to support the access to safe water in the 100 villages. United Technologies will contribute to the project’s technical component,  donating and  installing the systems that determine  the right chlorine doses needed to purify water.

In addition to its local partners, ONE DROP can count on Canadian partners to help develop its social art approach, which  include Adobe, Théâtre Aubergine , and Théâtre Parminou.

View the press release here.

Atelier TOTO B, ONE DROP, Théâtre des petites lanternes, Oxfam-Québec and their partners are proud to announce the premiere of the “Ayïti Pawol Lapli ak Lakansyèl” show, on October 24, 2011, at the Ritz Kinam 2 in Pétion-Ville. The multidisciplinary show—the cornerstone of the social art and popular education component of ONE DROP’s Project Haiti—draws on Haitian realities to raise spectators’ awareness of water related issues.

“Ayïti Pawol Lapli ak Lakansyèl” is a work with a human dimension that paints a portrait of the Haitian people’s reality and suggests potential solutions for rebuilding the country. The work was produced with the Haitian people’s words collected during a word-gathering exercise performed in the aftermath of the earthquake that shook the country in January 2010.

Combining dance, song, music and circus arts, “Ayïti Pawol Lapli ak Lakansyèl” is a social development project involving ONE DROP, TOTO B, Théâtre des petites lanternes, Artisans du monde, Aubergine and Danse Sara Rénélique. Atelier Toto B is a forum for meetings and artistic and theatrical creations, founded in 2005 by artist, writer and director Dieuvela Étienne to help promote the performing arts, women’s cultural practice and national development. While its name was partly borrowed from the artist, Toto Bissainthe, Toto B also means “band of women.”

Over 275 performances are scheduled during the extensive tour, which will include stops in Léogâne, Port-au-Prince and other Haitian cities.

A magical and meaningful event…

View the press release here.

As part of an extensive awareness-raising and social mobilization initiative, ONE DROP is proud to partner with the World House of Community Radio, launched in Montreal on October 17, 2011.

ONE DROP will work with the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, an international NGO serving the community radio movement, with almost 4 000 members and associates in more than 125 countries, to produce radio programmes, news flashes and reporting on water-related issues. The campaign will reach its peak on March 22, during World Water Day, as a special programme, coproduced with the Montreal radio station CIBL 101,5, will be broadcast worldwide.

Launch of the World House of Community also started the 2011 International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy (FIESS) in Montreal.