Day 8 - Let's Party

Today was the final day here and we only had one thing to accomplish....CELEBRATE! 1/2 of our team went to the beach during the morning while the others stayed at the hotel to take care of a few errands. We then arrived in Union Roja at 1pm to help decorate the building for the party which would start at 3pm.

Preparing for the party.

Members of the team sign the board.

Doug poses for a picture with Ismael.

During the ceremony, members of the training team were given certificates of completion. Here, Kendle give the lead trainer, Ayde, her certificate.

All of the trainers pose for their certificates.

The operators and installers take a picture with their certificates.

Members of the SPC team take a photo with old friends from Salvador Urbina. This is the Perez/Cifuentes family.

Here Febe takes a picture with Feliciana and her daughter, Rosario.

Day 7 - Getting Ready to Wrap It Up!

Today was not what you would call a light day, but basically it was a day where we felt strongly that we had reached the home stretch. I left for Union Roja with the operators at 9am and we went to the water building to do some work with the folks there and then sent Mike off to Salvador Urbina to do some repairs to the system there.

After doing some tests on the system, Doug, Adrian and I, made a 30 minute hike through the woods and up over a small mountain ridge to check on Mike and retrieve a few supplies that would be needed from there. We found mike elbow deep in some heavy system repairs, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

After grabbing what we needed, we hiked back down to Union Roja where we met teh operators and went over bottle washing and distribution procedures for the sales of water. These guys are so on the ball it is ridiculous, so not much discussion was needed and we then told them to go ahead and run a batch of water on THEIR new system. They immediately went to work turning valves and flipping switches as if they had been doing it for years.

Feeling great about leaving them alone with the system to run a batch of water and do some other modifications, we returned to Salvador Urbina to check on Mike only to discover that he had gone with Don Jorge and Bertrand to Tapachula to buy parts. So, since Mike seemed to be in good hands, we left to go visit our friend Adam in the town of El Aguila where another system is in place.

While all this was going on, the training team was holding their final day of training. A member of the local education committee asked to bring 17 children from the school so that they could practice the method they have learned on them. According to Kendle, it was a raving success and the trainers did a great job.

Meanwhile, we were in El Aguila visiting the home of Adan and the system there. We have known Adan for a few years now and he is a really great guy. His wife prepare cookies and coffee and we sat in his kitchen telling funny stories.

Finally, we returned to Union Roja where we enjoyed the first drink of water from the new system and then went back to Salvador Urbina to find Mike adn visit with our friend Sandra Cifuentes and her family as well as the family of our friend Luis who is working now in Atlanta and had asked Mike to deliver some gifts to his family as well as a video camera so that they could take videos of themselves and send back with Mike.

All in all, a great, but exhausting day.

Tomorrow is the last day and we will dedicate the system and have a party with friends from El Aguila, Salvador Urbina and Union Roja!

The hike to Salvador Urbina is by no means easy, but these guys can handle it.
We found Mike elbow deep in work in S.U. That is him hidden in the back behind Don Jorge.

Aides and Kayla teach the school children about health.

The children learn about proper hand washing.

A view of El Aguila (where we were going) from Salvador Urbina.

El Aguila is a town of about 2000 people on the side of a steep hill. It makes Haight Ashbury look like an ant pile.

Adans collection of Machetes. One for every occasion!

Members of the team enjoy a toast to the first glass of clean water!

Doug finally gets Paco the parrot to warm up to him.

Meet your 2009 water council of Union Roja! From left: Aides Ruiz, Raul Ruiz and Ismael Santos!

Day 6 - Up and Running!

Today the system was, for all practical purposes up and running. The installers glued most of the parts before lunch and the first batch of chlorinated water was run through the system to sterilize the internal parts before lunch.

After lunch the trainers went to work with a planning session where the education committee discussed how they would continue to train community members on the system.

Ismael's parents look on as the cistern is filled for the first batch.

Ismael flips the switch on the system for the first time.

Mike watches the water level inside the rotoplas. Once we have filled it to the desired level the first time, a pressure gauge inside the building will be marked and used to indicate when it is full.

Although we have not yet run our first batch of purified water, the next door neighbor is already using the draining water to wash his car and entertain his dog.

Raul prepares to install the filters and run the first official batch of clean water.

Day 5 - Progress!

Today was purely a work day. Everyone had a plan in place and we all went with it. The installers and operators began to attach the system and assemble the pieces on the board while the trainers did another great day of training.

Doug works with Ismael gluing together pieces of the churn. This is the piece that mixes the ozone gas with the water.

After having tasted a sampling of salt water that the trainees thought was fresh, Kendle enjoys a good laugh with them. The test proves that clean water cannot be identified by sight.

Rosario, the 3 year old grand daughter of Aides, holds her own tea party using the communion cup that is left over from the water tasting exercise.

Rosario's mother, Feliciana, helps construct a daisy chain that will be used to decorate the water building for the dedication on Wednesday.

Ismael's daughter and mother, look on as the class discusses clean water.

A lot of time is spent laughing and sharing.

End of day result is the system about 1/2 assembled.

Doug, Raul, Ismael, Mike, Julio

Day 4 - Let's Get Crackin!

Today was the first big work day for us. The installers went to the water building early while the trainers stayed in town and purchased some additional supplies for the afternoon session. There was a small amount of anxiety as we all anticipated whether or not the needed work to the water building would be done in time and if anyone would even show up for the training.

However, by the time we arrived, some of our worries were abated with a report from Doug and Mike that progress at the water building was good. The necessary modifications to the building were done and they had already made good progress on mapping out the system on the board.

A concrete top was added to the cistern and larger pipe
outlets were installed to the system inside the building.

Doug and Mike map out system components to
ensure good spacing on the board. This is a good idea as it later
allows for access to all the components when repairs are needed.

All of the components are planned out and ready to be attached.

The training session started at 2pm and we were pleasantly surprised by a great turnout of about 15 persons including Raul, one of the operators. Training session ran for about 2 hours and many subjects were covered including discussions of clean water issues, health and sanitation issues as well as procedures for using the water system.

Febe discusses the training with members of the community.

One of the children gets a coloring sheet depicting clean water.

Students make a model of what they thing a
germ might look like under a microscope.

Trainers user glow-lights and special lotion to
show the impact of inadequate hand-washing.

The end of the day left us tired, but with much accomplished. The final touches were to get the electrical components installed and doing some general clean-up to the water board.

Ismael trims bolt ends from the board as Adrian pretends
to do some work to the electrical system (with a sledge hammer?)

Day 3 - Meet, Greet and Plan!

Today we visited Union Roja so that the team could beginning planning with the people there. We arrived at the water building around 10:00 am where we met Ismael and Raul. Aides, the chair of the education committee, met us there also.

The installers, Mike and Doug, started with an orientation of the system, how it works, what to expect over the coming days. They also made some decisions about the system and some additional construction that needs to occur such as putting concrete on top of the cistern to support the rotplas (container that will hold the clean water).

While that was taking place, the trainers, Kendle and Sandy, visited the training facility that we would use with Aides.

We concluded the morning with some team planning and lunch at the home of Aides.

After lunch, the team split up. I went with Sandy, Kendle and Febe to Tapacula to buy training supplies as well as a few additional parts. Mike and the others hiked through the woods to Salvador Urbina where they visited the system there and people in town.

During the day we were approached by several people. It is not uncommon when we make these trips to be approached by persons who want us to visit their town to put in a system and there is no shortage of interest for sure. One of them is a fellow from furhter up the mountain who appearantly has a system in place in his village, but the persons who have the system at their home appear (from my weak understanding of spanish) to be trying to turn the system into a for-profit business. I am going to visit him on Tuesday afternoon and try to help rectify that situation.

We are also due to visit our friend Adam in the village of El Aguila where there is a system installed by our friend John Mather from Phoenix. No work planned there, just a friendly visit.

We did have some car troubles with our driver, Julio, as his car broke, so he had to find a friend to help. However, we should be back on track today.

As a side note, I left my cable to transfer images in my room, so I will post some pictures later.

More to follow...

Day 2 - Preparing for the Team's Arrival

Now htat we are settled in, we have to get to work on preparing the installation building for the teams arrival. There are basically two tasks on the agenda for today. 1) Get the plywood painted and 2) purchase 100 Garafones (bottles) for the distribution of the water.

We arrived at the water building at 10:00am and discovered that the paint we bought the day before was bad, so we had to go to the store and replace it. So, we stopped on the way back and bought the garafones.

Pelayo's truck loaded with 100 garafones.

After stopping for barbeque tacos on the way back, we unloaded the bottles and got to work on painting. Adrian and I jokingly tell Don Ismael, one of the system operators, that painting the board is the only real work we will do the entire week. Mary will attest to the fact that I am no fan of manual labor and they are lucky to get this much out of me. However, that is the reason I signed up as team lead, to stand around and watch. :-)

Ismael and Febe chat while the board dries.

All of the garafones are stored in the building.

Adrian does "his side" of the board. I realize you don't see me working in any of these photos, but I swear I did!

After finishing our work for the day, we went to Salvador Urbina to drop Adrian off for a meeting of the Just Coffee members while Febe and I went to Tapachula to deliver our luggage and get checked into our hotel.

We then went to find Renee, our driver for the week, but he was MIA and we heard news that his truck was in the shop, so we found another friend of Pelayo's to drive us and yet another with a van big enought to get our team and luggage from the airport.

The team arrived at 10:30pm and we got them from the airport and then safely into their hotel rooms. Since Adrian and Febe are newlyweds, there is a lot of "PDA" going on and I have to keep telling them to "Get a room!" So, as you might guess, it was nice to actually get them into a room last night and go to bed myself!

Oh! Get a ROOM!

Day 1 - Getting Started

Our first official day of the trip is almost over and to say that it was a success would be an understatement. We woke up this morning at the home of Luis "Pelayo" Diaz and enjoyed breakfast with them. Pelayo loaned us his pickup truck so that we could go to the village of Union Roja and to Tapachula to purchase supplies.

We got UR around 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning and went to the home Aides Santos and her husband Raul. Raul greeted us at the door and we spent at least one hour visiting with Raul. Their home is a very simple plank house with a tin room. Most of the floors are dirt with the exception of the main house which is concrete. The kitchen, however is dirt floored with a wood stove.

The home of Raul and Aides Santos

Raul Santos visits with us at the water building

Raul told us the story of his journey to the United States where her traveled as part of a group that was lead from here to the border and then across. Along the way, they were stopped and questioned by the police and many had to give up their money to continue the trip. Most hide money in other places so that the police won't find that to and just put bribe money in their pockets. They were also left in the desert in the middle of the night by their guide (known as "coyotes") and had to find their way on their own. Raul worked for about 2 years in the united states at both TJMaxx and IHOP where he had fake identification so that he could receive his wages (with income taxes deducted of course).

After that we visited the building where the water system will be installed. That building is very nice and they have prepared an excellent cistern for holding the dirty water before it is moved into the system.

The water building in Union Roja

We then drove into Tapachula and were able to purchase all the supplies and drop them back off at the water building.

As I write, it is 5:40pm an dI am sitting out in front of the Just Coffee building in Salvador Urbina enjoying the cool (75 degrees) evening air as I look up at the 11,000 foot volcana Tacana that looms over the village.

Tomorrow we will return to the water building where Raul, Ismael and I will paint the plywood to prepare for the arrival of the team tomorrow evening. We will also meet our driver for the week as well as check into our hotel in Tapachula.

This parrot, named Pacho, lives next door to the water building and constantly shouts "Agua!" to all passers by. I asked them if he was hired to advertise.

Until then...adios

Hola de Mexico!

I am have just completed my flight from Atlanta to Mexico City and have to wait until 8pm here for my flight to Tapachule. Adrian, Febe and Daniel should be arriving, but I am not sure I will be able to find them, so maybe will just have to see them in TAP.

I was concerned over recent safety reports regarding Mexico City, but it seems fine form here and this is my first visit to the new terminal. It is most impressive! It is basically just one giant room made of concrete walls and ceilings all with little 12 inch hole windows all the way around. (See picture below).


Anyways, just giving the report that my bags arrived and are checked to Tapchula and I am doing fine here on my own.

I will most likely not post again for at least one day as I will be staying in the village of Salvador Urbina this evening and there is no internet or cell access there. So, stay tuned....

Bag Packed, Team Commissioned, Ready to Go!

Our Living Waters Team is all set to go to Union Roja, Chiapas to install our second water system.

We met at the church last Saturday to pack up
the system and go over our final checklists.

Robert Ferry and granddaughter Laurali stopped-in to deliver suitcases.

Doug Scott and Nick's father-in-law, Earl Pitre, cushion
and pack the filters for the system.

The team was commissioned on Feb 1st.

Nick sits at the airport this morning waiting for
a 9:20AM waiting head out a couple days early
to make sure everything is ready.