The Prem Rawat Foundation Gave US$20,000 Grant for Water Aid in Haiti
TPRF Partners with Mercy and Sharing Foundation to Bring Water to 7,000 People

Los Angeles, April 2009 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) gave a $20,000 grant to address a dire shortage of clean water in Haiti. Over 7,000 people will be helped over the course of the coming year.

According to the Mercy and Sharing report, “The children of Haiti are dying at an alarming rate from disease, starvation, malnutrition and dehydration. Haiti is the eighth poorest country on the planet and the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. There is a lack of clean drinking water and basic nutrition. The water in many community wells is loaded with contaminants, causing people to drink a minimal amount, which often results in chronic dehydration. The lack of clean water for hygiene is in very short supply. Nutrition from food is also lacking, as more than 80% of the population lives in abject poverty.”

The grant from TPRF will provide 5,170 people in villages with fresh water for one year; maintain a well that will aid an additional 300–500 people; and dig two new water wells to aid an estimated additional 1,500 people at the Williamson Project. The Williamson Project is a new 70,000 sq. ft. facility north of Port-au-Prince that has two orphanages, a nutrition center and chapel, a physical therapy center, an elementary and high school, a trade school, a storehouse and volunteer facilities.

Linda Pascotto, President of TPRF, says, “Our hearts go out to the children and people of Haiti, who suffer from such severe malnutrition, dehydration, and disease. It is part of TPRF's mission to help provide human beings with the most basic of necessities—clean water and nutritious food—in hopes of offering them a better future.”

According to Susie Krabacher, Founder and President of Mercy and Sharing, “We find these children in such despair, with so little hope and life. To save all of them would be impossible, but that is our goal. Every day Mercy and Sharing strives to impact the lives of the children of Haiti, to save them from certain death, and to give them hope for the future. Thanks to the help from The Prem Rawat Foundation, we can come a little closer to our goal.”

Photographs Courtesy of Mercy & Sharing Foundation

About the Mercy and Sharing Foundation
The non-profit charity, Mercy and Sharing, is a licensed NGO that has been working in Haiti for fifteen years providing clean water, feeding programs, clinics, schools and orphanages for the many children who have been abandoned or orphaned. www.haitichildren.com.

About The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed. To learn more about TPRF’s humanitarian initiatives, Prem Rawat and his message of peace, please visit www.tprf.org.