Fall Festival

We are so excited about the booths that the older children are setting up for the festival!

Set up will begin on Thursday! We are looking forward to Friday!

the well

the last day at the village the team assembled the pump for the well. the village will be celebrating their new well for weeks to come & they started the huge celebration right after the pump was installed for all the team's hard work. the people of the village were so thankful that they planned a wonderful celebration with music, gifts & families from the village made speech's about how wonderful the team was & everything they accomplished for their people. the village built a palm alter around the well before the team got their that morning to surprise them & thank goodness they didn't have to tear it down to build the pump because as you can see it is beautiful. all the children were trying to peek through the palms as the team was finishing the well to see what it looked like, everyone was very excited. after the ribbon cutting one of the older women of the village couldn't wait to be the first to taste the clean water. what an amazing experience to be a part of, something that i know paul will never forget & he's so thankful that he got to be a part of it!!!

final & hardest step of building the pump for the well

finishing the pump/well

the AMAZING team

the palm alter that was built around the well by the people of the village

trying to sneek a peak at the well

the ribbon cutting ceramony

young pumping water for the elder

the first taste of clean water

drilling a well for water

the type of well they built in guatemala was an unconsolidated or sand wells they are drilled into a formation consisting of soil, sand, gravel or clay material that collapses upon itself. a well is composed of many components; the following is a list of the most important materials used:

casing is used to maintain an open access in the earth while not allowing any entrance or leakage into the well from the surrounding formations. The most popular materials used for casing are black steel, galvanized steel, PVC pipe and concrete pipe.

screen keeps sand and gravel out of the well while allowing groundwater and water from formations to enter into the well. Screen is available in many materials, the most popular being stainless steel and slotted PVC pipe. Screen is used when wells are drilled into unconsolidated materials.

gravel pack is placed around the outside of the screen to prevent sand from entering the well or clogging the screen and to stabilize the well assembly.

here's some pictures of the drilling process through 4 days, we have over 1,500 pictures...we thought that might be to many to look at so here's a few. again if you'd like to help with the water crisis please visit http://www.water.cc/

learning how to work the drill



preparing mud pits



making mud



paul working the drill...look out



now that's a wrench

adding steel pipe as we dig deeper and deeper

lowering the PVC pipe into hole, that's not an easy task

as you add more pipe, the task gets even harder

now that we reach the bottom, we must saw the remaining pipe

emptying the mud pits

standing in the mud pits

WE HAVE WATER!!!

ahhh...refreshing clean water



jaime & manolo (team leaders) proud of the work that was accomplished



here is the well topped off. they drilled 145 feet deep. they're getting ready to pour the cement base.



finishing base

testing the water



water specimens



all the different layers of the earth they went through in 5 ft increments per bag

the community of el triufno

 the community of el triunfo is absolutely incredible.  there is no stores around, no grocery, clothing, home stores...nothing. these people live off their land, they eat the eggs the chickens lay, drink the milk from goats, make all there own clothes, whatever they can use... they do! the people there worked so hard with daddy & the team, whatever they could do to help, they did. They are so loving, thankful & appreciative, mr.lopez can't wait to go back to do this again.



their school



the school teachers





mayan women




their clinic under construction



the serving area where they put together the team's meal everyday



the house where daddy & the team ate lunch every day




women & children carry everything on their head




washing clothes & themselves in the river




a look through a doorway




a shower area outside, they fill a barrel with water, dip the bowl in the water & pour over themselves. they have the plastic wrapped around for privacy.




a typical child riding on the gas tank without a helmet, hanging onto the bars by himself.




taking the cows to the fields to eat



a women making clothes



a home in the village



women in traditional mayan dress



a bus that takes the people to the nearest town (45 mins away) for shopping






the kitchen where they cooked the team's lunch everyday



a "nice" typical potty, 20 ft hole in the ground with a seat made of cement





children of el triunfo

 here are some pictures of the amazing children in el triunfo, they love having their pictures taken!

he won't be able to ride for a few more years, but he's never without it



just waiting



at school



if you're strong enough to carry, you do

on the way to school

stan sharing the love of football



hanging out






part of the team



women & children carry everything on their head



doing homework



saying goodbye