Living Waters for the World: Geneva church tackles global health issue

Worldwide, 785 million people lack access to safe drinking water. This leads to the death of millions, including children, annually. To address this global health issue, the United Nations has made access to water and sanitation a major sustainable development goal and established March 22 as World Water Day.

The World Health Organization states, "Health risks may arise from consumption of water contaminated with infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and radiological hazards. Improving access to safe drinking-water can result in tangible improvements to health."

For most residents in the Fox Valley community of Kane County, access to safe water for drinking, cooking and washing is taken for granted. Even for those who are aware of this global health issue, it may be hard to imagine how they could make a difference. This has not stopped members of the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church in Geneva. Since 2007, they have built and sustained partnerships with communities in Guatemala to train, equip, and maintain purified water installations.

Fox Valley Presbyterian Church partners with a nonprofit organization called Living Waters for the World to support this mission.

Based in Mississippi, Living Waters for the World supports a global network of organizations to empower everyday people to change lives through purified water. Through Living Waters for the World, Fox Valley Presbyterian Church has worked with Guatemalan communities for 12 years. Fifteen members of the congregation have traveled to Living Waters for the World headquarters to learn how to install and maintain water purification systems and to provide health education related to basic hygiene.

Over 30 Fox Valley Presbyterian Church members have shared this knowledge and technical skill on 18 trips to Guatemala since 2007.

Week-long installation trips involve the physical set up of purification systems and training local partners how to operate and maintain them.

While the technical team works with the physical set up, the education team is training local partners to introduce health education lessons that can then be passed on to adults and children in the community.

This train-the-trainer model capitalizes on local leadership and expertise.

Fox Valley Presbyterian Church volunteers have trained dozens of Guatemalan partners at 11 different sites to produce purified water. Nine sites remain active today. Many partnership sites are small churches in rural areas.

For example, the Presbyterian Church of Belen in the village of Santa Eloisa Chitamil serves approximately 500 members of the community. A small site like this produces 20-30 five-gallon bottles of purified water each week.

In terms of volume, this may sound small, but the impact can be life changing. During a recent visit, the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church team was told by Pastor Gaspar of the Presbyterian Church of Belen that "there has not been a child die in the village since the LWW system was put in place in November 2014! The children have been healthy, and are now much better educated on maintaining good personal hygiene, such as the importance of washing your hands."

Sites can become self-sustaining by selling surplus water.

In some cases, Fox Valley Presbyterian Church has provided financial assistance to purchase vehicles for local partners to distribute water and increase their capacity to grow and expand their operations. One system, installed in 2011, is now donating 16,000 five-gallon bottles of water a year to various organizations in need.

According to Pastor Gaspar, "Fox Valley Presbyterian Church planted a seed that made all of what has been accomplished to date possible."

Another strategic partnership that impacts public health and reaches communities in need has been with a health clinic located in the city of Retalhuleu. The clinic distributes purified water and health education materials donated by Fox Valley Presbyterian Church and other partners.

According to Dr. Nora Barrientos, the director of the clinic, these resources are "used to send the message of clean water to many people in the communities surrounding approximately 53 satellite clinics, focusing on areas where there have been increases in waterborne illnesses."

The largest partner site of Fox Valley Presbyterian Church is the Fire Department of Jocotenango which produces 150-175 bottles per week. During a visit in February of 2018, Linda Strong from Fox Valley Presbyterian Church commented, "There is a special feeling when you work with firefighters; you can feel how incredibly giving these men and women are. There is a sense of brotherhood and that just engulfs you when you are around them. They have such love for each other and the community … especially the children."

In the past 12 years, members of the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church have volunteered thousands of hours to this mission. The most tangible result is the tens of thousands of gallons of safe, purified water for communities who need it. It has also resulted in capacity building for organizations and individuals in Guatemala who have received training, resources, and marketable skills they can use for their own betterment and the good of their community.

However, the benefits of this mission are not one-way. According to Michelle Hwang, the Associate Pastor for Discipleship at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, "Every time we go to Guatemala we are changed for the better. The people of Guatemala remind us that what is important in life is not all the stuff we have in the U.S., but the people in our lives and community. We are humbled and honored to be able to partner with Living Waters and the Guatemalan people. We in the U.S. have been given too much and to share is the least we can do as we are called by God."

Time is the most valuable resource Fox Valley Presbyterian Church puts into this mission, but each trip and installation still requires thousands of dollars. In addition to ongoing donations, the church's largest fundraiser for this program in an annual golf outing.

Ray Laab, who is currently organizing the 2020 golf event, explains, "Our Links for Living Waters 6th annual charity golf outing and dinner will be held on Friday, Aug. 28, at Hughes Creek Golf Course in Elburn."

According to Fred Filiaggi, the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church relationship coordinator with LWW sites in Guatemala, "The funds raised through the golf outing will help to support current partnership sites and establish a new partnership site with an installation in the coming year." Potential sites currently being considered for partnership include a school, a youth camp, and an orphanage.

In a world that often seems to have more problems than solutions, the LWW team at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church is a reminder that when people pool their talents and strive together to make a difference, amazing things can happen. Our neighbors at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, while living their beliefs, provide us with a fresh example of what anthropologist Margaret Mead observed years ago, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

To register for the Links for Living Waters 2020 golf outing, go to foxvalleypres.org or contact Ray Laabs at (708) 203-1515 or email rclaabs@yahoo.com.

To learn more about Fox Valley Presbyterian Church and its other missions, go to foxvalleypres.org/missions

To see more photos and read journal entries from LWW visits to Guatemala, go to fvpclww.wordpress.com

To learn more about the importance of safe and accessible water, go to www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/water-quality/ or www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/ or www.livingwatersfortheworld.org.