Rebecca, I agree that there has to be some education when the filters
are delivered. Sometimes the people are reluctant to try something
new.I think we all know that the filters work and the water is
cleaner and saver. We know that the people will not get sick as much
as they did in the past. It is hard to believe that the director
thinks as he does. Just because he drinks contaminated water and
doesn't get sick doesn't mean that he is right. We have to educate
them. We have to find some Non Goverment Organizations to help us
with the education. Does anyone have any thoughts?
George--- In cleanwaterguatemala@yahoogroups.com, Rebecca Center
<rcenter@...> wrote:
>
> 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
>