Ecofiltro:one in Jalapa, Guatemala

My andventure in Jalapa with "Lencho"

I left Antigua early yesterday for a two-day trip to Jalapa, Guatemala to install filters in two communities in need of potable water. Julio (known to past Guatemala and Perú veterans as "Lencho") picked me up at 8:00 am and then we picked up Andre, an MBA graduate of Notre Dame University, to head toward Monjas -- a small village in Jalapa. It took us about three hours to get there (including time to eat lunch) and we promptly met up with Gabor, Candy, their four children, and another five or six interns who spearhead the ecofiltro:one project in the area. After a quick staff meeting, we drove to the first village with 43 filters to distribute them to the people. Julio spoke to the women of the community about the installation, use, and maintenance of the entire filter complex -- washing the bucket, spigot, and top with water then with bleach water; not exposing the clay filter to the sunlight; etc. As each person was given her filter, she would line up and either Andre or I -- the "secretaries" -- would enter her personal and filter information so that she can receive the correct filter replacement in two years. 

The cluster of bananas! It weighs over 20 pounds!

The inside. Less sweet than the traditional banana, but delicious nonetheless!

After all the filters had been distributed, we returned to Gabor and Candy's house to eat dinner -- a delicious dish of chicken, rice, and steamed carrots with a dessert of a local specie of banana gifted to us by the people of the "pueblo" who received the filters.

We went to sleep in a cheap hotel close to the house -- not the nicest, but it did in a pinch -- where we ate a breakfast of black beans (frijoles), tortillas, cheese, and eggs with ham. After returning to the house and loading up the truck with 27 new filters, we set off to another community in the same area. The process went much more smoothly this time, with no errors in the data keeping! We finished with the filters at about 1.30 PM, so we hit the road to head back to Antigua after a quick stop to say goodbye to the crew. We were supposed to visit a second village in the afternoon, but due to a death in the community and the subsequent funeral, the delivery had to be postponed. On the way back to Antigua, we stopped for lunch at "Pollo Campero" -- essentially the KFC of Guatemala. 

The ubiquitous sign

A view of the interior

We continued to travel for another three and a half hours until we finally arrived at 7.30 PM. The trip should have only taken an hour and a half to two hours each way, but due to the traffic in Guatemala City, it took much, much longer! Despite the long travel time, the experience was very good in the communities. All were very happy to receive their filters and to begin drinking clean, uncontaminated water. This adventure gave me a very good sense of how the company functions and how each group of interns and volunteers interacts with the community. It was, as Julio would say, "calimax" (the maximum level of quality)! I look forward to continuing to work with Andre and ecofiltro:one next week with the rest of the students who are coming to Antigua.

¡Hasta luego!

Kyle