Water Filter Delivery - Tuesday
We had two water filter trips scheduled for Tuesday. In the morning, we loaded 50 filters into the bus and headed back to Caluco, where we had clinic on our first day on the ground (Saturday).
When we arrived, we found out there had been a slight miscommunication with the local coordinators. We were not actually scheduled to go out to people's houses. Instead, we attended the training session that was given to the volunteers, who would then be responsible for taking the filters out into the community.
We stacked up all the filters outside the church entrance and I asked father to bless them, which he was happy to do.
Many of our translators are from the "American School", a private K-12 school in El Salvador that uses English exclusively. This is considered to be the best school in the country, so these kids are coming from the most privileged families in El Salvador. The school has a requirement that its high school students log 150 hours of community service before graduation. On Tuesday, one of their teachers, the coordinator of the service program, came along. He actually gave the training session for the parish volunteers. He did a great job - he obviously loves to teach.
After the training, we all broke into four groups and had a chance to ask the volunteers any questions we wanted. The group I was with was getting their water from natural springs near their houses. They live on very rough roads that can't even be driven on during the rainy season. Here's one of the small groups.
The afternoon was quite a bit different. We drove to four houses in Ateos right in the town. One thing I didn't expect was all the walls along the side of the road. This picture might look like an alley, but this is actually what all the streets look like. You feel like you're driving in tunnels.
The first house we delivered to had a small baby in the household. In this photo, you can see the blue plastic barrel that they were previously keeping their drinking water in. They are getting running water from a private water company. The thing to the right of the bike is the stove. It's basically a grill that they build a fire on top of.
The local parish volunteer explained the filter to the homeowner and then filled it up with a first batch of water for her.
The next hose was a little larger and nicer. The concrete structure to the right of the water barrel is their washtub. There is a deep basin in the middle and two shallow trays on either side. As far as I can tell, this is where you wash your laundry, your dishes, and anything else that you need to clean.
They had a coconut tree in their yard.
The last house we visited was the poorest. There was a covered entrance area, and then a small cabin-like structure behind it.
They had a well, basically like an old-school wishing well. Sometimes they get water from the well. Sometimes, they get it from this really nasty river 50 yards away. Either way - not good at all.
And their stove was a little different than the previous houses.
As you can see, safety and cleanliness are huge issues. With the amount of bacteria and parasites all over the place, these water filters could very well be life-saving devices.
When we arrived, we found out there had been a slight miscommunication with the local coordinators. We were not actually scheduled to go out to people's houses. Instead, we attended the training session that was given to the volunteers, who would then be responsible for taking the filters out into the community.
We stacked up all the filters outside the church entrance and I asked father to bless them, which he was happy to do.
Many of our translators are from the "American School", a private K-12 school in El Salvador that uses English exclusively. This is considered to be the best school in the country, so these kids are coming from the most privileged families in El Salvador. The school has a requirement that its high school students log 150 hours of community service before graduation. On Tuesday, one of their teachers, the coordinator of the service program, came along. He actually gave the training session for the parish volunteers. He did a great job - he obviously loves to teach.
After the training, we all broke into four groups and had a chance to ask the volunteers any questions we wanted. The group I was with was getting their water from natural springs near their houses. They live on very rough roads that can't even be driven on during the rainy season. Here's one of the small groups.
The afternoon was quite a bit different. We drove to four houses in Ateos right in the town. One thing I didn't expect was all the walls along the side of the road. This picture might look like an alley, but this is actually what all the streets look like. You feel like you're driving in tunnels.
The first house we delivered to had a small baby in the household. In this photo, you can see the blue plastic barrel that they were previously keeping their drinking water in. They are getting running water from a private water company. The thing to the right of the bike is the stove. It's basically a grill that they build a fire on top of.
The local parish volunteer explained the filter to the homeowner and then filled it up with a first batch of water for her.
The next hose was a little larger and nicer. The concrete structure to the right of the water barrel is their washtub. There is a deep basin in the middle and two shallow trays on either side. As far as I can tell, this is where you wash your laundry, your dishes, and anything else that you need to clean.
They had a coconut tree in their yard.
The last house we visited was the poorest. There was a covered entrance area, and then a small cabin-like structure behind it.
They had a well, basically like an old-school wishing well. Sometimes they get water from the well. Sometimes, they get it from this really nasty river 50 yards away. Either way - not good at all.
And their stove was a little different than the previous houses.
As you can see, safety and cleanliness are huge issues. With the amount of bacteria and parasites all over the place, these water filters could very well be life-saving devices.
Thanks for all the updates. It is a beautiful thing you are doing. Give you know who a big hug from GLu!! Love you!
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