Fight childhood disease with safe drinking water

Dear Supporters-  One of the most satisfying things for me about Agua Pura is to interact with young people throughout Latin America, and help them as they work to improve the lives of families in their communities.   I want to share with you a story from Honduras written by one of the students we are supporting.  As you read Raquel’s  story, please consider supporting her and other young men and women like her this holiday season.  A donation to Agua Pura Para El Pueblo in Raquel’s honor will go to funding programs like hers throughout Latin America. The enthusiasm of our students to tackle challenges is truly inspiring, and I’ll share more of their stories with you in the future.

Remember, we at Agua Pura are all volunteers and 100% of your donation goes to the programs we support.   Also, can you consider becoming a recurring monthly donor?  Every dollar goes a long way and even a small monthly contribution makes a big difference in our work.  Thanks so Much!

Here’s Raquel’s story:

My name is Raquel G. I come from the community of La Teja, a small, rural community located in the Southeast part of Honduras, near the border with El Salvador. Approximately 100 people, or 20 families, live in the community. La Teja does not have running water, and until now did not have any sanitation services. In August 2012, I won a scholarship to study Environmental Technology at Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, Oregon, in the USA for two years. One of the
requirements of the program was to develop a project that could be applied to my community, and I chose the idea of building composting toilets to alleviate the problems of water pollution caused by the lack of sanitation. During my two years of study, I attended the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) conference in 2014, where I won a grant
funded by The Resolution Project.

Thanks to the grant and the hard work of the programs that have supported me including Agua Pura Para El Pueblo, I have been able to successfully implement my project in my community.
The project’s goal was to build 16 latrines for individual family use so that each home would be equipped with a composting toilet. The community members contributed local materials such as: sand, wood, ash, etc. and the rest of materials were purchased with funds from The Resolution Project grant.

A composting toilet was also built at the school as a prototype to show the community members. Through our project, 13 latrines were constructed at individual family homes, and two additional latrines were constructed for the
community’s use at the local school and church. People in La Teja have been very supportive of the project and are Thrilled to have a sanitation system in their community. Currently I am working with Agua Pura Para El Pueblo to provide Water Purification Indicators for my community so that they can have safe drinking water.
I am also expanding my project in another community called La Flor, Santa Ana, la Paz, Honduras; and La Teja is the perfect example to follow.
Sincerely,
Raquel G.

Thank you again for your generous support in the past!  We appreciate every donation and hope that you will continue to support us going forward.  You can read the stories of some of our other students on our website Agua Pura Para El Pueblo. Also, please contact me directly if you have more questions, tom@aguapuraparaelpueblo.org and finally,my offer still stands: if you would like a Water Pasteurization Indicator for your own use please let me know.  They’re great for camping and emergencies!

Thank you!

Tom Carter

Links:

• Here's our website if you want to read more
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Greetings from Belén Gualcho! I’m excited to be back from our latest trip and want to share a few of the many things we did.  
Belen Gualcho is a beautiful town, in a valley high in the remote mountains of Honduras.  It’s peaceful and friendly and green and it’s the local headquarters of one of our partner organizations, Project Global Village.  They invited us back for a second visit to continue our water and sanitation projects in the many small communities that surround the area.  This time we worked with 17 operators of small community pharmacies to train them in modern methods of water testing and water purification so that they could help their neighbors to have safe drinking water.  We also gave them testing supplies and water filters that they can use and share with others. These men and women are all volunteers and dedicated to helping their communities so it was very satisfying to work with them.
After an intensive two day training program we then had the pleasure to return to their communities with the operators, “administradores”, and see them share their new information with their neighbors.  Our team members were proud to hear  them talk about how families can be safe from disease by practicing simple things like hand washing and purifying drinking water.
One especially interesting visit we had was to the tiny community of Rio Negro, high in the hills above Belén Gualcho.  It is a several hour horseback ride from the end of the road, and the town has no electricity. The school house is small and dark, lit only by light from a few windows and some candles.  And on top of all that, the stream that supplies the communities water is contaminated!
Despite all the handicaps the people of Rio Negro were determined to improve themselves and their community.  Guillermo, the operator of the community pharmacy walked for many hours to get to our workshop,  and then intently listened and studied and learned about how to make his towns water supply safe.  When we returned with him he was ready to share what he knew.  At a community meeting in the school house he showed the results of the water testing he had done and then described different ways that families could protect themselves from the contaminated water. He talked about the necessity of using latrines and hand washing and properly cooking and protecting food.  He demonstrated the water filters and other purification devices we gave him for the communities use, and he pasteurized some of the contaminated water to show how it could be made safe.  We were proud to be present and hear his presentation.
Guillermo was only one of the 17 community pharmacy administradores we trained last week, each one enthusiastic and eager to help their communities.  Our time in Belén Gualcho was short but the work of these people will continue and the impact on the health of the families in their communities will be great.  You too, our supporters,  can take pride in the results of our work in places like this.  Thank you so much, and you can continue to read about our work on our website http://aguapuraparaelpueblo.org     If you wish more information or want to participate in future projects, please contact me directly at tom@aguapuraparaelpueblo.org
Sincerely,

Tom Carter