According to United Nations, 783 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. If you have clean running water in your home, you are blessed beyond measure.
Our ministry, His Hands International is currently working in a village called Los Limones which is a very poor village in the city of Gualan, in the Zacapa region of Guatemala. This village has no electricity, no clean water, and no sanitation, other than outhouses. There are a few open wells which are often contaminated from dirty buckets and run off.
We have already seen sick children with parasites and other water borne diseases in the clinic. One little girl had a skin disease which resembled wart-like lesions all over her. She is featured in another story on our website. All these are preventable diseases. This village has 75 families, 525 people total, consisting of 150 adults and 375 children and growing! So you can see why we are so concerned about the quality of water these children are drinking.
Good news is that we have found 4 wells that were put in by another non governmental organization. However, the wells were all broken or needed work. After an extensive search, no parts were found available in Guatemala for any repair.
So we started from scratch and came up with a better plan that will be more beneficial to the community. We have already repaired and upgraded one well. We deepened and cleaned the well and installed a solar powered water pumping system. The solar array will charge batteries and provide power to the water pump.
At that point, the water will be pumped into a 660 gallon holding tank and then exit the tank through a filtration system to a centralized sink where people can fill up their jugs with clean water. There will be sufficient water storage and the battery will supply power to the pump on rainy or cloudy days. In addition, solar powered security lights were also installed around the facility.
One of our next projects is to build a centralized bathing area. This will allow these families to bathe in clean water and not a dirty contaminated river. This is very important because this river contains all sorts of bacteria and diseases, not to mention feces. Like the little girl we mentioned above, many children get these wart-like skin lesions from drinking and bathing in this water.
Will you help us build a bath house and repair another well? The estimated cost for each well and bath house is approximately $4,500 each. We source everything in Guatemala. With each project we purchase materials from local businesses and hire local labor. This helps provide jobs for over 75 people and businesses in Guatemala.
His Hands International has been working for over 10 years to improve the lives of people in Guatemala. We are CHE (Community Health Education/Evangelism) certified. We identify needs in the communities and then come up with a plan to help them help themselves. We are partners with Radio/TV Redencion in Gualan, Zacapa, Guatemala. We work with them through their local social center, helping to feed over 60 children twice weekly, provide twice weekly free medical clinics, clothing, and shoes through our Christmas Shoes Project.
If you are looking for a mission trip or a mission vacation give us a call and we can put something together for you. If your church is looking to get involved in a fresh ministry, please contact us and learn how we can help your group plan your next trip. Learn more about upcoming projects here.
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