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 British Columbia 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 Australian Drilling Industry Association adia@adia.com.au 49 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JULY 2013 Water for Life International by Tim Rasmussen Last March, our man in Guatemala, Berny Leonardo, was working in Barrial. It is one of the more remote villages with a well from Water for Life International. The village is near the Belize border and is about 1½ hours drive from our shop and headquarters. He was finish- ing a church building that was a private project of the board members of Water for Life. As he was getting ready to leave to go to Poptun and get more materials, a woman came to him with an urgent plea. A poisonous snake had bit her daugh- ter the previous evening. She asked Berny if he could look at her and take her with him to the doctor. She said she had no money to pay for the trip or the doctor, but said she knew Water for Life helped people. Berny followed her to the shack she called home. The child was lying on a piece of foam on the dirt floor. She looked about five years old. Berny could see she was very sick. He looked at the place on her leg where the snake had bitten her. It was a small bite, but it was red and hot to the touch. Berny said he would help and gently carried her to the crew cab Mitsubishi pickup. The roads were terrible and it was a jostling bumpy ride for the little girl on the back seat. Near Poptun, Berny stopped at a house where a man who knew a lot about snakes and snakebites lived. Berny asked him to look at the lit- tle girl. He looked her over and asked about the snake that bit her. The man said he believed it was a barba amarilla (Guatemalan name for the fer-de-lance.) The little girl was listless and unable to talk. He told Berny the girl must go to the hospital immediately, and privately told Berny the bite was bad and the girl might die. Berny took the child to the hospital and the doctor looked at her and agreed she needed to be admitted. Berny paid for her admission. She spent nearly one week there before she was released. In late May, Berny was again in Barrial checking on the solar pump there. The woman found out he was there and brought the little girl to see him. She had been playing with her friends and did not want to stay and visit too long with this stranger, but her mother warmly thanked the kindness of the Water for Life people for saving her lit- tle girl. “Water for Life helps people.” That is what she said. That is what we do. If you would be willing to help us help people, please contact us. There is much to be done. There is much you can do. We need your help. If you would like to help, please contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-466-5075 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Snake bite victim.