Rotary grant helps Guatemala water projects

Hungry Horse News

A consortium of Montana Rotary Clubs has joined forces to win a $39,000 grant from Rotary International to fund ongoing clean water initiatives in Guatemala.

The grant project named “Clean Hands, Clean Water” is sponsored by international partner Whitefish Rotary Club, the Host Rotary Club Guatemala (city) West, with support from the 13-member Western Montana Rotary Coalition.

Spearheaded by the Columbia Falls Rotary Club and member Dave Renfrow, the project has international significance, suggesting that small investments in clean water can stimulate economic development, prevent disease, and reduce the flow of immigration to the United States’ southern border, the club said.

“If we are truly concerned about the migration crisis, we have to look beyond the border,” Renfrow said.

Over the years, Renfrow has done extensive bicycle touring across Central America, including Guatemala.

Renfrow said the project is aimed directly toward mitigating malnutrition caused by lack of clean water and sanitation practices, which result in low school attendance and subsequently low lifetime incomes. Average family income in the project area, located in the western highlands of Guatemala, is $4.50 per day, and school attendance is approximately three years.

“The products, filters and hand-wash fixtures use simple technology, scalable for size and sustainable in cost,” Renfrow noted. He added that the success or failure of this low-cost approach “is highly dependent upon local engagement and steadfast, long-term commitment to UNICEF’s Water & Sanitation Health (WASH) protocols.

“With our local partner, Guatemalan NGO Los Buenos Vecinos (The Good Neighbors), we have exactly the dedicated partner necessary to affect long-term disease prevention,” he said.

The bio-sand filter systems are based upon ancient Mayan technology and perfected by the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology in Calgary, Alberta. Filters are paired with hand-washing stations called Tippy Taps. Studies have shown disease reduction of 85% when these devices are coupled with WASH training. While the grant funding is essential for purchasing and delivering the local materials for the filters and Tippy Taps, the key to the success of the program is the on-site work of locals, Guatemalans, who do most of the construction and training.

This month, Rotary volunteers from around the world are heading to Guatemala to work alongside the locals. Two Whitefish women are in Guatemala now as volunteers, and Renfrow left with three other volunteers from the Flathead last week, joining others from across the country and as far away as Australia.

When completed the project will serve four communities and 2,500 residents who will participate in the construction of 318 home bio-sand water filters, nine community-size bio-sand filters for 30 families each, nine well-head covers and submersible pumps, and four school-size Tippy Tap hand-wash stations.

Renfrow said in each community a governance committee called WASH Champion gains certification to monitor and maintain the systems and trains residents in the WASH program.

WASH Champions committees are generally made up of at least two teachers, one elected official, one healthcare worker, and two students from the local communities, said Renfrow, adding that per-family user fees sustain continuing education and monitoring.