The Other Day Five

While I was pontificating on the blog earlier today, the team was doing the real work. They spent the day in Patanatic which is only about 1000 feet from Panajachel as the crow flies. Unfortunately, that would be straight up. The team spent much of the day inspecting filtration systems installed in this village last March. The hope was that they'd be in full use in sanitary condition. The team was upbeat but reported that many of the units were not being maintained as hoped. They spent much of their time reinforcing the importance of cleaning the filters and straining the water. It will take time for some of the local inhabitants to learn. Few of them have much formal education and the subtleties of hygiene do not come easily.

In addition to checking established filters, we visited the future site of a community clinic.
Dan is with EWB (Engineers Without Boarders), and his "submission" is to measure and assess the structural integrity of the addition HHI wants to add to the Community Building pictured above. He has spent many hours with local village leaders and is eager to report that two more stories can easily be added. Not surprising. What we've been impressed by is that as you move around the various locales, many, many structures are built to be expanded. They may look like sin with exposed re-bar and half completed concrete block walls, but the community is always building or expanding as money and need allow.

The second photo is the view from the clinic when it is completed. The beauty of the lake is apparent. A river flows from this inlet to the lake called Rio San Francisco. The clinic will be on the future second floor with living quarters on the top. MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU Olathe, KS) nursing students are working hard to raise funds to build the compound and plan to staff it in years to come.









LIFT AND LOAD

A second big effort today was the collection and installation for concrete wash basins/sinks. The following video of Scott offering the inaugural hand washing gives you an idea of the challenge. These utilities weight about 500 pounds and are permanently set in communal and family compound settings. They are often painted in festive colors that reflects the reverence for "el agua."




JORGE'S DAD

I wanted to share a tender moment about Jorge and his story. His parents were poor and he came from a fairly large family. His dad learned how to read when he was 18 by listening to a radio program. As he got older, he promised himself that his children would escape the dread through education. Jorge was one of those successes. Jorge went on to be Director of Guatemalan Children International before joining HHI. Two good men indeed.





MAYAN FAMILIES

Late in the evening we were invited into the family home of Juan Carlos. Juan is the President of the Guatemala City club and his father-in-law owns a home here in Panajachel. The home is in a 12 family compound that has one very unusual feature. Juan's FIL ran a drilling company and when attempting to find a well, discovered a hot spring instead. Today that spring feeds the communal swimming pool. A nice touch after a long day, if you know what I mean.

During this gathering, the team was introduced to Sharon and Dwight Poage pictured below. They run a foundation that supports many community efforts including their own water filtration work. It was nice to see others attempting to support clean water resources in the region. They were a gracious couple and we enjoyed swapping stories about the challenges and rewards of our work.





Paz from the team and a late me.