Lawrence Rotary - International Service - Dominican Republic October 2006

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. This is what it felt like in El Chispero, Dominican Republic. Rainfall is plentiful, the stream flows constantly, but the water is polluted in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. Adults showed the effects of polluted water, and many children were undernourished and susceptible to diseases caused by polluted water. It seemed so ironic in the land of extreme rainfall that the water was not safe to drink.

Four members of the Lawrence Rotary Club, Kay Frishman, Tom & Penny Kelley, Steve Anderson, and Mark Engelberg, along with addional volunteers and the Bonao Rotary Club of the Dominican Republic, made progress towards curing the water problem in the tiny town of El Chispero. This town of 300 people in 52 homes is in the mountains and the middle of the island of Hispanola and the country of the Dominican Republic. The city of Bonao is one half hour from El Chispero. The Lawrence and Bonao Rotary Clubs, installed biosand water filters in 51 homes and one in the elementary school. These filters will replace the jugs and buckets of water that are carried from water sources and stored in open container in the homes.

Children of one of the homes where Rotary installed a water filter.

The cement water filters weigh nearly 500 pounds when filled with the layers of sand, gravel and rock creator of a biological barrier to disease as the water is filtered through the system. This project would not have been successful were it not for the cooperation and joint effort of the Bonao and Lawrence Rotary Clubs. Members of the Bonao Club delivered the cement filters to the private homes and then the Lawrence Rotary Club, (with the assistance of Bonao Rotary members) maneuvered to level the cement filters, filled them with the exact amount and varying grades of sand, inserted nozzles in place, and instructs the homeowner on the proper use and care of the system. Each installation took between one and two hours, depending on the degree of difficulty in leveling the cement filters and the availability of sand and rocks.

Rotarians were welcomed into homes, offered coffee, oranges and limes, often grown in the yards of the homeowners. Everywhere we went, community members greeted us with smiles.

To cap our experience, a Peace Corps supervisor visited the community while we were there and committed to place a Peace Corp volunteer in the village. This person will monitor the use of the water filters and ensure proper maintenance on an ongoing basis. This makes us confident that our work will ensure clean water long after our return to Lawrence.

About 2.6 billion people today have no regular access to clean water for drinking, bathing, cooking or basic sanitation. Nearly 2 million children die every year because they do not have potable water. Although the Lawrence and Bonao Rotary Clubs affected only 300 people, plans are underway to repeat the project in a neighboring community.