Water Is Life Volunteers In Haiti Deal With Hurricane Aftermath

Adrianna Iwasinksi, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY – It had been 13 hours since Water Is Life founder Ken Surritte heard from his team down in Haiti.

"The cell phone towers must be down," said Surritte. "The last communication I had with them was two this morning."

Surritte monitored The Weather Channel and radars as Hurricane Tomas barreled down on Haiti and his volunteers. He asked friends and supporters to pray, keeping many of them posted through the Water Is Life Facebook page.

But Surritte soon received a glimmer of hope.

After multiple texts to the Bender family, Ken finally got one from them.

"They're safe," said Surritte. "They're on their way to help at one of the local hospitals."

The Bender family has been in Haiti helping with relief efforts since the massive earthquake hit there in January. Mark and Christina Bender are from Arizona. They're in Haiti with their two young daughters, Olivia and Peekaboo.

 They have been handing out thousands of Water Is Life straws to the children there so they can have clean water to drink. The straws have special filters in them to purify the water. One straw can provide a child the ability to drink clean water for up to a year.

This has been especially crucial due to the recent cholera outbreak in Haiti because of all the contaminated water in the country. Water Is life volunteers are also hosting teams of other American volunteers, teaching in the schools, running medical clinics, and repairing broken wells.

Surritte has sent another supply of more than 2,000 Water Is Life straws to Haiti. And with it, he also sent prayers and blessings that his volunteers will stay safe during the storm.

Learn more about Water Is Life.