A visit with the Padres.

In 2001 Jerry Bohl met Father Daniel Sanchez Barbero, then the priest at Mary, Mother of the Poor Church in San Salvadore. What came of that meeting is another (beautiful) story, but the point of this blog is to inform you of the effectiveness of the system we provide. A part of the outcome of their meeting was that Jerry provided Father Daniel with the first system of the type we provide. Father Daniel and Father Luis Salazar, the current parish priest, are in Kalamazoo to take part in the ceramonies and festivities surrounding the opening of the new St Thomas Mores facility. St Toms and Mary, Mother of the Poor are sister parishes. I asked Father Daniel about it's effectiveness, what changes it had brought. He explained that the system was still working fine, that and the 3 that have since been installed to serve this large community. He noted that the most noticeable physical impact on the community was that the children at the school no longer complained about belly aches. They were no longer affected by the parasites and bacteria that came from their water source. Diarrhea and Dysentery were no longer a problem. Father Luis confirmed this. The water comes from the Rio Lempa river, which doubles as a sewer in some places. There is a national agency responsible for delivering the water and they do chlorinate it...occasionally. At any given time one has no idea what is in the water. Father Luis is thankful they have the systems providing safe clean water to the community served by the parish. Both Father Daniel and Father Luis promised to help us identify sites that could benefit from our water purification system.

YuK!

This is a photo I recieved of a filter taken out of the solar powered purifier I installed in Haiti. The filter WAS white when I installed it. this is after a month of usage.Think of the water the people in this community had to drink. Normally the filters are changed Bi-monthly. Looks like we'll have to send enough for a monthly supply.

College students, Gotta love Em!

I have been teaching at colleges all my adult life. For a few years now, I have been worried about the future of this country based on what I see in my students. Seems like there has been little concern for social consciousness. For years, it seems, all of them were only interested in how much money they could make after graduation. But, in the last few years something seems to have changed. A good example is my last class in humanities foundations at Western Michigan Univ. My evening group was a stellar bunch! They over-achieved on every assignment. Two standouts stepped forward to offer help to CW4W. Curt Fitzpatrick is a guy with a heart bigger than his body. he has more design skilled than anyone I have ever met, and he does it in what seems to be an effortless manner. He has helped design our new Pamphlet, letters to potential donors and other stuff in a blink of an eye. Hey has more talent and skill than anyone I have ever met!
Another one is a very pretty gal, Ashley Rolfe. She is a very creative and talented young woman who could get by on looks alone. But, after receiving her grade (she didn't need to suck up to get a good one) stepped forward to volunteer to help CW$W with some very boring but essential data entry work. Young people like these are a tribute to their generation. I am so fortunate to have met them. And... teaching them was a real JOY!

More Thanks

So much for my attempts to get better or at least more regular with blogging. Ever once in a while I am driven to blog, and now is the time! There are some people I need to acknowledge for their contributions to Clean Water for the World. David Jackson works for a company called J.O. Galloup. They sell plumbing to big industry. When he read of the formation of our organization, he attempted to contact me. I was busy and thought I would be dealing with a guy that just wanted to sell me stuff. He made several other attempts to contact me, and I just blew him off. But, I neeeded to buy some solenoids so I went to J.O Galloup. Behind the counter was a BIG guy, no hair, earring in his ear. He looked like some old biker type. Not one you would peg as a softie. When he found out what I was up to he introduced himself. He has been a tremendous asset, helping me resolve several issues and getting stuff we needed. After i bought our first batch of solenoids I asked Ed Huss, a board member and procurement specialist to get me a price on the same solenoids. Ed came back with a price nearly double what I had paid. Turns out that that big biker type has a soft heart. He was giving us a very good price. Just can't tell a book by it's cover! Thanks Dave!

It's about the children.

Let's face it. The hopes and dreams of the world lie in the next generation. Of the nearly 5,000 children who die daily from water borne disease, most are under 5 years. Their bodies are so fragile, they cannot fight the effects of parisites, bacteria and viruses in bad water. They are the reason Clean Water for the World exists.

"We can only give you a song"

When the installation and testing was done and everyone had tasted the water, Rosie explained that the villagers would no longer have to take their kids to the local clinic to be treated for water borne disease. They could use the money to better their lives. They said to me "We cannot pay you, but we will give you a song" no music has been sweeter to my ears.

The first sip.

The first sip of clean water. Most of the community was there. I took the first drink to show my faith in this simple system.