Water Testing - June 4 PM
- Jun 6, 2018
- 2 min read
(Late Post)
Buenas noches! Good evening!
Later in the day, the teacher protests subsided and the roads opened up again, allowing us to make the trip to Trigo y Miel. The team gathered up our water testing equipment and packed into Victor’s van for the drive to Trigo. The community is an interesting place. On the way in, a few water delivery tankers were spotted delivering water to people. This is also how Trigo gets its water supply. For those who are unfamiliar with the water program at Trigo, here is a brief rundown: water delivered from local vendors is stored in a giant underground cistern and pumped to various holding tanks on roofs at the Trigo y Miel Community Center and then finally treated by the VWOS unit. Water that is treated is then distributed to community members in 5-gallon water containers at an affordable price.
Also on the way into Trigo, I noticed a family traveling over the rocky dirt roads hauling their things in a wheelbarrow. The trek looked difficult, so I can imagine what that would look like with a full 5-gallon container. As of now, everyone involved (Victor, Wendell, and VWOS) has not reached a consensus concerning the best solution for the Trigo Community; we will have more discussions tomorrow once Wendell arrives. We met Jose and Raquel once we arrived at the Trigo y Miel Community Center. Raquel is the daughter of Victor and Lety and she also works at Trigo y Miel. She and Jose have two adorable children with a third on the way.
One of the first things we saw was the new (to us) shelter that Victor had constructed for the VWOS unit. It was a truly remarkable sight to see. It is wonderful to know that Victor is taking his responsibility to care for the people and the VWOS so seriously. Also, the initial plan to conduct water testing was also carried out. I was able to guide Abigail and Brandon through the multiple testing procedures that we had brought with us. We set up our impromptu water testing lab in the new VWOS shelter. The atmosphere in the shelter was sweltering, but we managed to keep our cool to finish testing for two water samples. Abigail made a really great chemist! Professor Lockwood went out into the community with Ale, Victor, and Lety to meet a few homeowners with wells. We started the day not knowing whether we would get to what we had planned, but we stuck with the flow of things and everything worked out in the end, with some bonuses!
As Brandon shared some of his thoughts today, he reminded me that God has us here for a reason, despite our plans being less certain now than they were before we got here, so we can rejoice because everything that is happening is as God intends it for our good and for the community’s good.
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