Last week we were busy working in the community of Sequixpur. Sequixpur has been a key community for a water project for a while now because they possess a spring large enough to serve several other communities in the Valley. So, we first needed to fix and extend their existing system before we could consider asking their permission to carry their overflow to other communities. Thanks to the design know-how of Mark McKinney, the beautiful concrete tank work of Julio, the assistance of Ricardo in dealing with several social issues, and the willing hearts and hands of a Knox Pro Corp team of 15 men and women, we were able to pull off this project just a few weeks after returning from our Christmas vacation in the States.
Enjoy these snapshots of our week below...
One of the team's favorite parts of these trips is working and laughing and getting dirty in the trenches with the locals. Big John and Tim were having a fun time with these guys, teaching English and learning both Spanish and Q'eqchi' equivalents.
We have really begun to encourage our U.S. teams to train the locals in constructing and maintaining their water systems so that they take more ownership of their system and so that the system is more sustainable. Once we passed on the responsibility of cleaning, sanding, and gluing pipe to these two locals, we found that we were getting pipe laid in half the time!
Edwin, Zach, and Jonathan are showing off their arm muscles, but it was definitely their legs that got the work out during the week, hiking up and down mountains, as well as dropping into and climbing out of trenches.
We were extremely thankful to have Brucito, General Manager of the First Utility District in Knoxville, return for his third trip to the Valley within the past year and a half. His humor and leadership were an irreplaceable asset to this team. Environmental Specialist and Youth Minister Ryan was also a great addition to the team, making friends with both the adults and the kids of the Valley.
One of many "descansos" (rests) after a long day's work. After asking one of the water committee members Juan what he thought of the U.S. team members, he said yes, they work hard, but they don't last very long... and you can't blame them when the majority come from a desk job to working outside all day at a mile-high!
And these sweet faces are those mental pictures that stick with us long after the last stick of pipe is laid and the team has returned to the States.
Thanks to Kris's organizational skills and the help of the team, we used our first rainy day in Sequixpur to get all of our materials in order.
When we say that we were working on steep terrain, we are not kidding!
We cannot express the extent of our gratitude to both the locals and foreigners that composed our water team in Sequixpur. As we spend the next couple of weeks finishing up service lines to houses and valve boxes, we hope to continue to shine the light of Christ through service in this beautiful Q'eqchi community.
