PANTIENCE BRINGS RESULTS

For six years we have visited the village of Los Encuentros. Our first visits were in 2009 when we started working on a water project in the Neighboring village of Nuevo Puntos. We met with the village leaders and tried to include them in the project but the spring for Nueve Puntos was too far away and too small for both villages.  Both villages were basically drinking water from mud puddles. I can still remember crying when we had finally exhausted all options and had to separate the two villages leaving Los Encuentros behind. We were in the mountains in the bottom of a gully looking at tiny spring that would barley provide water for one home. "It just won't work, but we will kept trying" I promised the four men with me that day.
     I hate promises like that. They can hang in the air like a noose waiting to be completed.
    The beginning of the trail to Nueve Puntos starts in Los Encuentros and all the materials for the project would arrive on truck and pass through the village on its way on up the mountain. It took a year to finish the water project in Nueve Puntos and then we built a small school, then a clinic. Over the years blankets, clothes, garden fencing, all would pass through the village as we worked further up the mountain.
   The problem was there was no spring surrounding the Los Encuentros. We searched for miles but the only water source was the rain. It was too expensive to buy water tanks for the 70 homes and plastic tanks only have a life span of ten years. The size of the village made it hard to bring in general aid like blankets and there was no funding for a water project like they needed. In six years the only work we did was distributing sheep in 2013. Many times I was asked if there was a solution to their need for water but never once did I hear a complaint.

As an organization we worked hard in other villages. We grew but we didn't forget. This year we re-enter the village with water filters and hand made quilts.

And most importantly

                                                          A WATER PROJECT

Thirty dump trucks of sand and gravel have been moving up the mountain along with 10 trucks of cement and rebar. The road up the mountain still demands respect but this year for the first time since its construction  repair work was done to smooth out the ruts and holes. For three months two excavators worked on the repairs and as they finished we received the final approval for a Rotary water Grant for Los Encuentros and the village of Jua. We would build 70 water tanks, one for each home, and connect them by gutters to the roofs. The rain water collected would be clean and protected in sealed tanks. The solution had finally arrived and we jumped right in!

THE ROAD IN--Here Manuel helps us bring in blankets and some other aid on the old road. It was the last trip up the hill for this truck as all the bolts that held the cab on sheared off. We had to tie the cab onto the frame with ropes to make it into the village. The timing of the road work will saved us untold dollars and headaches.   I am told often "It will all work out in it's own time" Sometimes I believe it.

Motivation comes easy when there is a need and there isn't any physical need that can top the need for water. The day we started work there were 12 dump trucks of sand and gravel,  2,000 pounds of cement and rebar and a lot of energy ready to built the tanks.

 

Simple guides like this pole frame used to place the re bar  were made for everything

We also made two sets of bolt together plywood forms to make construction simple and fast.

It was so simple even a child could do it. And they did. Here some kids work the afternoon shift bending re bar for the floor.

This boy is pulling a rope tied to the wheel barrow behind him to help move sand. If you have never had the privileged of working on a good humanitarian project you probably don't understand the shear joy people have in getting to help themselves find a solution to a big problem. It is the joy of self improvement. Satisfied smiles like this appeared all around the village.

a

We grouped five families together at a time so we would have a good enough sized work force. When we would pour the wall even the women would pitch in. Our production is faster than I expected and we are completing five tanks every seven days.

It is hard work. This man is close to my age and the work was taxing us late one afternoon. I am constantly learning Ixil and he taught me a new phrase this day. "Na Sa'e' Saq'i'y" -- It literally translates -  It wants your life  --- the meaning-- it take effort. I like that. To understand that there is a sometime costly exchange to get from point "A" to point "B" but if it is worth it go for it.
  Thanks Rotary Gig Harbor. By the dry season next March the village of Los Encuentros will be drinking good clean water and we can leave the mud puddles to the ducks.

CAN YOUr TEN YEAR OLD  WEAVE LIKE THIS? SHE WILL SPEND TWO TO THREE MONTHS MAKING HER SHIRT. One day a nine year old girl gave me her newly woven shirt in thanks. She wouldn't take no for an answer. I looked at her father for advice but he said "she has made up her mind" We both parted in tears. These people are so grateful for the help we all offer. Continue in your support.