Sunday, January 13, 2019

Clean Water & Sanitation

We raised the money to start a pilot project at twelve schools near the City of Santa Barbara in the western mountains of Honduras. The Rotary Club in Santa Barbara, Honduras is leading this effort in collaboration with residents of each of the villages or barios where the schools are. The Rotary Club has four teams of it members, each working with parents, teachers, and community members at each of three communities where schools are.
Community member at Tacahulapa School explains that, when it rains, the septic holding tank overflows into the schoolyard. Right now, the students do not use the current toilets.

The initial funding for the projects was raised with Rotary leadership from the communities of Creston, British Columbia, Canada and the U.S. communities of Bemidji, MN; Park Rapids, MN; Wahpaton, SD; and Ashland, WI. Rotary clubs in districts on the U.S.-Canada border matched 100% of the funds each community raised, and the international Rotary Foundation matched 150% of the communities' funds. When one considers the breadth of effort, it is clear why the Rotary Foundation calls these "Global Grant" projects. They happen only when people of many nationalities, faiths, and cultures collaborate in a shared mission.
Community members in Gualjoco dig trench for the new foundation.

The family sow next door to the El Trabajo school in Inguaya escapes to the schoolyard to join the meeting of parents, teacher, and Rotarians.
Santa Barbara Rotarian Rene Vasquez explains how bathrooms will be added adjacent to existing classrooms at Inguaya.