Project Updates & New Employees

October 30th, 2011 was the 2 month marker for our 2nd year in Belize. With five (5) projects currently in progress simultaneously, we move through each day vigorously planning and scheduling construction teams from one end of the country to another.

Project Bullet Tree:

Bullet Tree Falls, (Pop. 4000) Scheduled Commissioning November 17th, 2011. Bullet Tree Falls will be the first commissioned LWTS in year 2 for WMI-B. This project is funded by private donations through ROWKIDS and with mission team assistance from Lowcountry Community Church of Bluffton, SC. We excitedly await the arrival of this team on November 12 through 19 to assist with the final construction of the housing building for the unit, help install the tanks and solar panels, while others from the team will assist with Health and Hygiene classes and the Community Celebration.

Valley of Peace Project:

Valley of Peace (Pop 4000), Scheduled Commissioning on January 7, 2012. Valley of Peace (VOP) is located 12+ miles off the highway on the outskirts of Belmopan, reached by a very bumpy dirt road ride! Community support has been so positive, with a local crew of volunteers and some paid masons completing the housing building for the LWTS in just over 2 weeks! Within the coming two weeks, we will have the water unit installed and ready from the funding team's arrival. One Desk Foundation members will arrive on November 19-Nov. 26 to assist with the completion of the system installation, iniatiate water distribution to the 3 schools in the village and conduct a Leadership Camp for 30 teacher/administrator selected students to attend for a week!

Hopkins Project:

Hopkins (Pop. 3000), Scheduled Commissioning on December 20, 2011. This Garifuna seaside community is embracing the gift of the safe water project! Having had issues with bad water for as long as most residents can remember, they are grateful for the LWTS system and their enthusiasm fills us with joy each time we visit there!

New Employees

Welcome Douglas Flores as our new Belize Country Director, and Kelston Jacobs as our Programming Assistant!

Project Bullet Tree Falls (Funded)

Nestled just a couple of miles northwest of San Ignacio is the tranquil village of Bullet Tree Falls. Until a decade or so again, the village was a simple Spanish-speaking community, unknown by many, and only even marginally on the map because of its unique access to the isolated Maya ruin, El Pilar. With a growing population, currently almost topping 4000 inhabitants, Bullet Tree has grown beyond nearly all recognition of its former days of a small hamlet-type settlement. Bullet Tree Falls is one of the several ‘gems’ of Cayo which make the district so popular with international tourists and Belizeans alike...

Project Bella Vista Phase 2 (1/2 Funded)

Bella Vista is a refugee village, where, just 9 years ago, there was nothing but a small roadside store on the Southern Highway.  Today, there are 4500 people settled in this community, most from Honduras, San Salvador and Guatemala and most working in agricultural and local shrimp farms.   When we first heard about this community, we were surprised to learn that there were over 1,000 children attending the Bella Vista R.C. School.  Our assessments of the water situation soon revealed contamination and, after a short period of time, Bella Vista became recipient of a LWTS.     We have enjoyed building treasured relationships with the school faculty, LWTS water board, local church leaders, the children and people of the community and local health clinic.  Their support of our efforts has been a wonderful blessings.   Having addressed the desperate need for safe, clean drinking water, we now are addressing and seeking funding for proper sanitation and functional latrines at the school.  The sanitation needs are enormous and we strongly urge sponsorship towards this project to fulfill this need.

Project Armenia (Sponsor Needed)

Armenia Village is set in the foothills of the Mayan Mountain Range and is surrounded by jungle, caves, rivers and wildlife. It is a relatively small, rural village with a “homey” feel, but is close enough to Belmopan for easy access to amenities. The village population of 1,000 residents is composed of both Spanish/Mestizo and Maya populations. The first settlers in the area were immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, trying to escape the ravages of civil war. Both Mopan and K’ekchi Maya people also moved to the area from southern Belize in order to have better access to health care, transportation and a market in which to sell their crops. Digging a little deeper into the community you will find that water supply and quality is a real issue. After testing the local water source it was determined that the 220+ children attending the local school do not have access to clean, safe drinking water and neither do the parents and other residents of this village!

Project San Antonio (Sponsor Needed)

San Antonio is set in the foothills of the Mayan Mountain Range and is surrounded by jungle, caves, rivers and wildlife. It is a village with close to 4000 residents and two (2) local schools. Both schools and the community are in dire need of safe water and Ismael Mai, the principal of the local RC school is excited and has told us that water is a big issue in this village, because many children have gotten sick by drinking the local contaminated water. Digging a little deeper into the community you will find that water supply and quality is a real issue. After testing the local water source it was determined that the 400+ children attending the local schools (2) do not have access to clean, safe drinking water and neither do the parents and other residents of this village! As a matter of fact, when I was there doing the assessment there was NO WATER at all in the village. The water supply comes from Pine Ridge some 6 miles from the village and all villagers have to go to San Ignacio ( 9 miles away) to get any water at all!

Project Georgetown (Funded)

Georgetown is a newer Garifuna community established in the 1960s by Garinagu from Seine Bight in search of farmland. Today approximately three hundred people live in the tranquil village which is located about half a mile off the southern highway. "No longer forgotten," that's how Education Minister, Patrick Faber put it in December 2010’s official opening of 1 eight classroom building at the Georgetown Technical High school campus, located in the Stann Creek District. It is the first of several buildings being constructed as part of an expansion project funded by the European Union...