WorldWide Drilling Resource

WorldWide Drilling Resource ® is proud to be a member of these international associations. New Zealand Drillers Federation, Inc. +03.324 2040 Ontario Groundwater Association Tel: 519-245-7194 Fax: 519-245-7196 ogwa@ogwa.ca www.ogwa.ca Australian Drilling Industry Association adia@adia.com.au British Colmubia Ground Water Assn. Tel: 604-530-8934 Fax: 604-530-8934 isecretary@bcgwa.org • www.bcgwa.org Alberta Water Well Drilling Association Tel: 780-386-2335 awwda@xplornet.com Atlantic Water Well Association Tel: 888-242-4440 Fax: 902-435-0089 nsgwa@ns.aliantzinc.ca • www.nsgwa.ca 59 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® DECEMBER 2013 Water for Life International by Tim Rasmussen Berny Leonardo was in the village of Barrial when he got a telephone call from one of the village elders of La Canoa. He was working with some men laying tile on the floor of a church build- ing, which was a private project of the board of directors of Water for Life. The call relayed that for some rea- son the pump at La Canoa was not working and had been out of service for about three days. The situation in the village was not good. The people had been forced to go back to the old source of drinking water, which is a small, very contaminated creek running through the village. After three days of drinking this water, people were beginning to get sick. The whole village was in trouble because there was simply no other source of clean water within walking distance. A few of the men there had brought some water from town in a bar- rel and had been trying to avoid drink- ing from the creek, but some of the children had not obeyed and were ill. This village had been drinking clean water for over five years because of a well Bucky Mowrey drilled. This was also the village where, after the well had been installed, the villagers report- ed that for the first time, no children had died that year. We noted some time ago, if village people have been drink- ing clean water for some time, then go back to contaminated water, everyone soon gets very ill. It was quickly going to become a serious problem in La Canoa. Berny called his friend Samir and got the pump service truck out of the shop to go help. He also called Henry Lazaro who maintains the campus of the orphanage nearby. He needed Henry to go with him because the villagers of La Canoa speak only K’iche’. This is a Mayan language very unlike Spanish. Berny does not speak this language, but Henry does. The trip to La Canoa was not easy. It is only about four miles, but the road is very poor, even by Guatemalan stan- dards. There are huge holes into which the truck must creep and then out the other side. In the rainy season, you can- not get there by vehicle at all, only by horse, mule, or walking. Fortunately, it had not rained for days and the truck could get through. Once on the site and set up, the problem was easy to locate. The plas- tic pipe bringing water up to the pump from the cylinder had broken up inside the pump stand. The pump was replaced with one from the shop. Within a little while, the well was back in service. The villagers were all very happy to have a source of clean water again. I talked to Henry after he got back and asked how it went. He told me the well had been easily fixed. I asked if the villagers were happy and he laughed and said, “Oh sí, hay mucha agua ahora.” (Yes, there is a lot of water now.) We are trying to solve this problem by going back and drilling another well in some villages so there is a backup if one well goes down. This is hard to do because of the demand from villages that do not have any well at all. We are working to resolve this, but we need help. If you can help us, we offer you a chance to change the lives of people. It will change you as well. If you would like to help, please contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-466-5075 or 509-939-1941 Tim admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 4< /*2'3* "& > > > > ,'< ? /2+ '6* /3+6 /3+6 ')1/3- " " !8=2+ /7843 4* 4* ')1/3- !+8 5)7 !8'3*'6* $'2:+ 9((+6 6':+2 $'2:+ 9((+6 !+'87 9((+6 $'2:+ 37+687 #6+8.'3+ $'2:+ 37+687 $'2:+ !56/3- ! ! $'2:+ 4:+6 '71+8 ? !;/:+2 ')1/3- ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 6/)+7 !9(0+)8 "4 .'3-+ %/8.498 48/)+ !@ @ < < < < <