Hi all,

I have some questions. I funded 48 water filters for a school
community in Alotenango, Guatemala. They have not been used
effectively, perhaps b/c there was no educational program
beforehand. I am in Guatemala now working with the school, and the
director played devil's advocate with me. Although he knows they are
important in some ways, he is not sure if he wants to make it a
priority. He says:
- he drinks out of the "pila" (trough of unfiltered water either in
the town square or in the school) when he doesn't have purified water
and he doesn't get sick.

- the children at the school all drink the water and don't get sick

-even if we have lots of filters at school, they will still go home
and drink unfiltered water

-the families don't want to have anything to do with the filters if
they need to replace the filters two years down the road

-the families aren't near water, so they wouldn't be filling them up
(this one I'm confused about, since they need to get water anyways to
drink)

- what if the kids are playing sports and are thirsty, do you have
filtered water at the field (which he thought was unlikely)


Answers? Responses?

Rebecca Center