The Presidente of Cruz Blanca is looking for a means to correct or to circumvent the fact that the unchlorinated water system is contaminated and consequently unuseable. 

This situation has my attention through my contacts at the Mi Refugio School in San Pedro Sac. and through an influential resident of San Juan Sac.  I ask a Rotarian or Rotaractor to let me know of their possible interest in investigating the need in Cruz Blanca and to please post.  I will share the contact information for the Presidente.  See www.mirefugio.org.

Wayne Andrews, President

Scotia Rotary, NY USA.

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
>

Hi Rebecca.

It probably will not surprise you I am not able to give the answers on the critical questions you meet at your school. The problem is we do not have any knowledge about an investigation the influence on the health of drinking not purified water in Guatemala. I just can tell you my personal experience.

Together with my wife I am living about seven months a year (since 2004) in San Juan La Laguna. The water used by the people in the village comes down from the surrounding mountains and probably it will be contaminated with fertilizer, etc.

People who can afford it are drinking purified water they have to buy. Price: Q. 15 / 5 gallon.

In January 2008 George has given us 310 water filters to distribute in the village with the promise we will get more in the future. We asked Q. 15 for each filter. With a very few exceptions everyone is very positive and often people asked us if and when they get the possibility to buy one too.  Next month someone will visit all the families we provided with a filter, to control if they are properly used.

Albert www.mayasupport.nl

--- 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
>

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

Unfortunately this isn't working as I had planned. No one is posting.
No one is asking questions. No one is making suggestions so we aren't
helping our cause, which is to help the poor people in Guatemala. We
have a lot of members but no chit chat.
Please stsrt posting or I will have to give up on this dream.
George

I read your profile today, I thought I would drop you a line and hope to become
your friend! Check my personal page
http://leifdnedfr.zoomshare.com/files/grilfriend.htm

I am happy to report that my friend, Dan Speasl, the current President
of the RC of Central Point, Oregon has accepted to be the Primary
Contact with one of the upcoming Matching Grants.
George

Step up and become a Primary Sponsor.It is easy. I can help with the
paperwork and the rewards are fantastic.
George

I am very happy to report that Valle de Guatemala Club has joined our
team. They will give us one of their future Grant openings. This
project is really growing fast so we need these Grant openings. Thanks
a lot.
George

I will be sending Grant#5 to TRF shortly which will supply 500
filters to Ak Tenamit. I visited the sight when I was in Guatemala a
few weeks ago. You are correct. This is a fantastic think that Steve
Dudenhoefer has done for the less fortunate people in Guatemala.
George
--- In cleanwaterguatemala@yahoogroups.com, "lewis33021"
<lewis33021@...> wrote:
>
> The Hollywood Florida Rotary Club has granted $1000 for the
Ak'tenamit
> www.aktenamit.org) school/health care project near the eastern
coast of
> Guatemala.  The filters are the same as those on the home page.
The
> kit costs costs $50 and uses ceramic filters that filtere 5 gallons
at
> a time overnight  I am on the Board of Directors of the Guatemala
> Tomorrow Fund (www.guatfund.org) which raises support for the
project.
> The project started 15 years ago by a young American Rotary Club
member
> and now has about 400 students in a middle/high school and a health
> program for about 25,000 people.  The schools are very innovative
and
> include work study every third week, either in the students rural
> villages to design water projects or in tourists jobs like hotels
and
> restaurants.  The schools are likely to be models for all of the
rural
> schools in Guatemala.  You can also visit the project (which I have
> done three times) and/or be a short term (one week) volunteer.
For
> more information, visit the two websites above or email me.
> www.guatfund.org www.aktenamit.org
>

I am very happy to report that this club has joined our team and they
will be hosting one of our projects in the near future.
George

Welcome, Gail. Gail operates the Hotel Posada La Merced in Antigua,
Guatemala. She is also a fantastic supporter of our Water Project. I'm
very happy that she has joined our chat group.
George

The Hollywood Florida Rotary Club has granted $1000 for the Ak'tenamit
www.aktenamit.org) school/health care project near the eastern coast of
Guatemala.  The filters are the same as those on the home page.  The
kit costs costs $50 and uses ceramic filters that filtere 5 gallons at
a time overnight  I am on the Board of Directors of the Guatemala
Tomorrow Fund (www.guatfund.org) which raises support for the project.
The project started 15 years ago by a young American Rotary Club member
and now has about 400 students in a middle/high school and a health
program for about 25,000 people.  The schools are very innovative and
include work study every third week, either in the students rural
villages to design water projects or in tourists jobs like hotels and
restaurants.  The schools are likely to be models for all of the rural
schools in Guatemala.  You can also visit the project (which I have
done three times) and/or be a short term (one week) volunteer.   For
more information, visit the two websites above or email me.
www.guatfund.org www.aktenamit.org

Hallo George (and all interested).

I am not common with Yahoo but I just joined the group as a reaction
on your writing. To introduce myself to the other group members:
my wife (Ruth) and I started a foundation in The Netherlands
(www.mayasupport.nl) to help the people of the villages San Juan La
Laguna and San Pablo La Laguna in Guatemala. We are living about 7
months yearly in San Juan. Two weeks ago you visited us after donating
310 waterfilters to the village. I realy can asure you that it is a
great help to the people of the village and we realy hope we will
receive some more filters in the future! Walking trough the streets
very often the ones who did not receive a filter so far ask us (or our
social worker Merlyn) when they will get one...
George, thanks a lot,

Albert Ducrot

The Bonita Springs and Lakewood Ranch Rotary Clubs of Florida are
working with the Coban Rotary Club in Guatemala to provide Q Beta
Filtration Systems.  Each $50,000 Matching Grant water project will
provide approximately 1000 filters that will make a `life or death
difference' in the lives of about 10,000 people. Our plan is to conduct
a project in March and July and possibly more.

Please contact us to provide either an individual or club donation

Sandy Scoggins (239) 961-2130 sunsandy@...

Ron Myers (941)744-1557 ron_myers@...

While on my trip to Guatemala, I stayed at Hotel Merced in Antigua.
Gail Rogers is the owner and a passionate contributor to our project.
She has several filters in her hotel with a poster asking for
donations. Just before I left she gave me a check for $2,000. People
just love to help the less fortunate. Thank you Gail.
George

Bob,
Thanks a lot.
Keep in mind that I am looking for Primary Clubs that can lead a Grant.
I am very willing to mentor them if need be. I have some Guatemala Host
Clubs. This is a turnkey operation. I would love to have a club in
Canada be the lead sponsor. Let me know if this is a possibilty. I can
hold your contribution in case you want it to go to your Grant.
Wow, this is exciting.
George---
>
> As President of the Rotary Club of Bracebridge - Muskoka Lakes, I'm
> happy that we got the ball rolling north of the border.
>
> As District 7010 Water & Sanitation Projects Coordinator, I will be
> taking this cause to the 45 clubs in the district.
>
> Bob
>

As President of the Rotary Club of Bracebridge - Muskoka Lakes, I'm
happy that we got the ball rolling north of the border.

As District 7010 Water & Sanitation Projects Coordinator, I will be
taking this cause to the 45 clubs in the district.

Bob

Hi George,
This is great news!
Thank you to the Rotary Club of Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes many more
people will have clean drinking water and less sickness.

Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie


--- In cleanwaterguatemala@yahoogroups.com, "George Lewis" <mrclor@...>
wrote:
>
> I am happy to say that I just received our first donation from a
> Canadian Rotary Club.
> The Rotary Club of Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes just donated $1,000 in
> Canadian dollars. Thanks a lot.
> George
>

I am happy to say that I just received our first donation from a
Canadian Rotary Club.
The Rotary Club of Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes just donated $1,000 in
Canadian dollars. Thanks a lot.
George

Jean,
Yes it is a small world. They are the same filters. We delivered 50
more to Father Bernie last week. We have two openings from the Coban
club and will start with about 2,000 filters. Father Bernie is quite
some guy. Thanks for chatting and have a great visit to Guatemala.
You can chat with him. He is part of our group.
George-- In cleanwaterguatemala@yahoogroups.com, jenamaciel@... wrote:
>
> Hello George,
>                       I'm glad to hear of your safe return. What a
small world. I am the project leader for a traveling team that will
be leaving for Guatemala this Sunday. We are working in the Alta
Verapaz area. Lanquin in particular. This is our third trip and we
are working with the Coban Rotary Club. We have completed a water
project and are now working on a kitchen and sanitation project.  In
fact, we have purchased 8 Beta filters which I believe, came from
your same connection. We will use them in 2 of our 3 schools in
Lanquin. We are self funded so far, but will be applying for matching
grants next year. If you have any information you can share, or vice-
versa, we could indeed help each other, help these amazing Guatemalan
people. I've attached a few of my images of our last trip in October.
Thanks for your time!
>
>
>
> Yours in Rotary,
> Jena Maciel
> International Project Chair '07-'08
> Guatemala Team Leader
> Office 559-589-6044
> Home 559-584-0501
> Cell    559-707-1165
> jenamaciel@...
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: George Lewis <mrclor@...>
> To: cleanwaterguatemala@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:38:32 PM
> Subject: [cleanwaterguatemala] Guatemala Visit
>
> I see we have some new members. Great, but no chating while I was
in
> Guatemala for 10 days.
> Let me throw out a few questions.
> 1-Do any of you have contacts in Guatemala Rotary Clubs? We need
some
> more Host Sponsors.
> I gave talks to 3 clubs in Guatemala City(De Valle-Metropoli and
Sur)
> and also at Coban and Antigua. All look promissing, but we need
more.
> This is growing very fast.
> I also met with the former First lady, Wendy Berger and she is very
> much on our side and appreciates what we are doing for her country.
> 2-I think I made some headway on the two year replacemnet problem.
Any
> thoughts in this area?
> George
>
>
>
>
>
>
______________________________________________________________________
______________
> Looking for last minute shopping deals?
> Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.
http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping
>

I see we have some new members. Great, but no chating while I was in
Guatemala for 10 days.
Let me throw out a few questions.
1-Do any of you have contacts in Guatemala Rotary Clubs? We need some
more Host Sponsors.
I gave talks to 3 clubs in Guatemala City(De Valle-Metropoli and Sur)
and also at Coban and Antigua. All look promissing, but we need more.
This is growing very fast.
I also met with the former First lady, Wendy Berger and she is very
much on our side and appreciates what we are doing for her country.
2-I think I made some headway on the two year replacemnet problem. Any
thoughts in this area?
George

All my work is focused on Guatemala, so it is hard for me to
personally get invested in other countries at this point.  What is
the mission, or original mission, of your work?

Rebecca

We have had several requests to supply out filters to Belize and El
Salvador. Should we do this or should we concentare on Guatemala?
George

We have been supplying filters to Mayan Families.
Look at their web site.
http://www.mayanfamilies.org
George

We will be supplying filters to Feed The Dream.
Look at their web site:
http://www.feedthedream.org
George