Rotary Participates in Clean Water Project

Twenty-five Rotary Clubs in northern CT and Western MA (Rotary District 7890) have joined together to fund a project that will bring fresh drinking water to two needy communities in Guatemala. Two other villages will receive funding that will supplement prior donations by providing similar improvements. Including matching funds from The Rotary Foundation a total of $118,180 was raised. Adding this amount to the funds raised during the previous nine years brings the ten year total to $528, 118.

Contributing clubs were from Avon-Canton, Bloomfield, Broad Brook, East Hartford, East Windsor, Enfield,

Farmington, Kensington-Berlin, Manchester, Newington, Plainfield, Rockville, Simsbury-Granby, Stafford, Suffield, Torrington-Winsted, Watertown, Wethersfield-Rocky Hill, Willimantic and Windsor-Windsor Locks, CT along with Massachusetts’ clubs in Holyoke, Northampton, Pittsfield, West Springfield and Wilbraham/Hampden.

Two Rotary clubs from neighboring Massachusetts/Rhode Island District 7950 - East Greenwich and Wakefield,

RI, four in southeast Florida’s District 6990 - Ft. Lauderdale North Beach, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, and

Weston; one from Florida’s District 6930 - Palm Beach Gardens; one from District 7040 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada; the Rotary Club of La Antigua, Guatemala in District 4250 and the private Fondation Coup de Coeur contributed funds to achieve the goal.

These funds will build complete gravity fed water system with gray water filters, vented pit latrines and improved vented stoves for the 146 families (875 people) who live in the rural communities of Patzaj and San Lucas, Guatemala. The villages of La Trompeta (160 families/960 people) and Panatzan (220 families/1,320 people) will utilize these funds to supplement previous donations so their system can be finalized. These are projects that continue the goal of Rotary International to have every Rotary Club support an international water and sanitation project every year. By working together, pooling their resources and obtaining a Global Grant with matching funds from The Rotary Foundation, the Rotarians have been successful in adding size and strength to their chosen projects.

District Water Committee Chair and Manchester Rotarian Rick Lawrence again spearheaded the drive to raise the necessary funds by making presentations about the project to the Rotary clubs throughout northern CT, western MA, and central RI as well as several clubs in south eastern FL and one in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In February he and his wife traveled to Guatemala to visit the two villages that were funded the previous year. While there, he documented photographically the improvements and expressions of gratitude displayed by the members of the village, utilizing these during his presentations and showing the Rotarians how important their past contributions were to these indigenous Mayans.

The project’s implementation will be coordinated through the host partner, the Rotary Club of La Antigua, Guatemala and its cooperating partner, ALDEA (formerly Behrhorst Partners for Development), a non-profit organization with ties to over 65 communities in Guatemala. ALDEA helps train community-chosen people as traditional birth attendants, a health promoter, a village dispensary manager and someone to oversee use of medical emergency transportation funds. ALDEA also provides extensive training in sanitation, personal hygiene, maintenance of the water system components, micro loans, nutrition, including help in school and home vegetable gardens, as well as educational talks about family planning and birth spacing. In Guatemala over 50% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition.