A Bow Island resident with strong ties to Haiti traveled to that nation following the earthquake that recently caused such devastation in order to provide hands-on help, bringing his expertise as a well driller along with a few friends within Lifewater; an organization committed to aiding needy countries digging wells that provide clean drinking water.
Les Babcock sared the following message with Commentator readers.
“Greetings from Haiti.  My name is Les Babcock.  I am a husband, father, grandfather and driller from Bow Island, Alberta.  I first went to Haiti with my wife Ruth in 1969 and ended up living there for several years.  It was also in Haiti that I came into contact with Lifewater, a volunteer driven water group and was able to be part of the amazing experience of drilling a hole into the ground and bringing life giving fresh drinking water to villages suffering from dysentery and other preventable water-borne diseases.  This experience was so profound, that I came back to Canada, attended Red Deer Collage’s Well Drilling Program and have made my living as a well driller for the past 28 years.  Ruth and I have continued to make trips to Haiti, helping drill many wells, and along the way I have learned to speak Creole and have developed a lasting love for the Haitian people.

Jim Gehrels, president of Lifewater, Brian Oddgard, a volunteer from Minnesota and Les Babcock celebrate the successful drilling of two wells in Haiti.

Digging a well in Haiti. 

“I lived in Port-au-Prince for a while, and have traveled there dozens of times.  I was sitting at home several days ago when a friend called and told me to turn on the news.  I watched the early reports on the earthquake with little information and photos.  But in my mind I was able to clearly envision the streets, the buildings, the people and I knew that their infrastructure, which was already inadequate, would totally collapse.  I knew that  Haitians are  a resilient people, but that no one could cope with such devastation without many helping hands.  I had to go to Haiti and help.
“I made contact with Jim Gehrels, president of   www.lifewater.ca, and he agreed to go with me.  I took care of making in-country contacts and logistical arrangements while Jim bought tickets, and we were on our way to Haiti.  Several planes, buses and days later, we were in Cape Haitian, already feeling post-earthquake aftershocks. One week after the earthquake our boots were on the ground here in Haiti.  
We started by chartering a bus, loaded it with food, water and medicine and headed off early in the morning to Port-au-Prince.  It was a grueling, 8 hour trip on terrible roads over three mountain ranges passing beautiful rice paddy’s, scenic vista’s, crowded markets and small towns.   The only sign of the disaster was vehicles packed with refugees heading out of Port-au-Prince.  We arrived late at night, stepped off the bus and were greeted by another aftershock.  At daybreak our relief items were distributed and then we headed off in search of Katie Hadley, a 30-year-old friend of Jim’s who had checked into the Montana hotel less than one hour before the earthquake.  We checked with the embassy who said she had not been found and then headed to the hotel.  It had totally collapsed and the smell of death was everywhere.  It was a very tough experience.  We made sure rescue teams knew which room she had been in, and on Saturday sent a friend back to the hotel - and on Sunday her body was found.  While Katie’s family and friends can now properly grieve and bury her, there are tens of thousands of Haitian families that will never know what happened to their loved ones.  The death toll continues to climb and this is now clearly one of the largest natural disasters that the world has ever seen.
“We loaded 60 refugees onto the 30 seat bus, packed luggage in the isles and even on the front dash board and headed back to Cape Haitian.  With hundreds of thousands of people flocking out of the capital into the countryside, outlying communities are doubling in size and already meager water supplies are being stretched to the breaking point.  This is where we are focusing our efforts.
Working with other volunteers and Haitian workers, we have been rehabilitating wells, repairing broken handpumps, drilling wells and building biosand filters  (designed in Calgary) to make safe drinking water without needing chemicals or electricity.  Days are long, nights are full of mosquitoes and racing thoughts of loved ones back home and mulling over how to spend the next day.  We have been catching a rat every night, aftershocks continue, logistics are challenging but we are healthy.  
“We are much encouraged by e-mails of support pouring in from friends and neighbours.  In turn, our presence here is a real encouragement to the Haitian people, showing them in a visible, personal way that Canadians care about them and that they have not been forgotten.  It is physically and emotionally exhausting, but deeply spiritual to be able to provide a cup of cold water to these men, women and children who, just like us, are created in God’s image.  It really strikes me that we in Canada have much more than our share of the world’s resources and have come to passionately believe that whether a child lives or dies should not depend on where they are born.
It is going to take years to help Haitians rebuild their country and we will not abandon them, even when the TV crews move on to the next country and the next story.  We are going to need well drilling supplies, hand pumps, trucks to get around, mechanics and well drillers willing to volunteer their time, community mobilizers and a lot of funds to help provide the safe water so fundamental to any sustained recovery effort.
“If you, your company, church or school would like to help support a water project or purchase of needed equipment, please donate on-line at  www.lifewater.ca or send a cheque to Lifewater Canada c/o Box 193, Bow Island, AB, T0K 0G0, or phone the Babcock’s at 1-800-298-2854.  Every donation receives a tax receipt and the thanks of a nation in crisis.”
On Sunday, Jim’s wife Lynda passed on further information on what is currently happening with Les and Jim in Haiti. She said the mayor of Cape Haitian has asked the team to drill as many wells as quickly as possible, as this city is swelling by 5,000 refugees daily. To accomplish this Lifewater needs to purchase a second drilling rig and two trucks to haul rigs and supplies to well sites at a cost of $100,000, drill 50 wells (about $150,000) and rehabilitate 200 wells (about $200,000).
Many people in Bow Island, like in the rest of Canada, are, like Les and Jim, responding to the need in Haiti.
As reported last week, students at Senator Gershaw School are raising money. Their total, as of Friday, was around $1,500 and growing. The Bow Island Elementary students got in on the act with their Caps for Causes day, raising about $227. More money will be raised on the weekend.
Meanwhile Les and the volunteers with Lifewater continue to work hands-on with the Haitian people, lending their expertise during this crisis.