The Well of Santa Rosa
Drilling a deep borehole and installing a solar pump so 340 families on the hillside above Santa Rosa no longer spend three hours a day hauling water from a contaminated stream.
The women and children of El Mirador walk down a steep ravine every morning to fill jugs from a stream that also serves as a wash basin and a cattle crossing. Doctors at the regional clinic say waterborne illness is the leading reason children in the village miss school. Working with a Honduran drilling cooperative we already trust, we will sink a 90-meter borehole at the top of the village, install a solar-powered submersible pump, and build a 10,000-liter storage tank with four public taps. A local water committee, elected by the village, will manage maintenance and collect a small monthly fee so repairs are never dependent on outside help. A team of eight from our partner churches will travel in March to help with the tank construction and to run hygiene workshops in the school.
Borehole drilling and casing (90 m): $7,800 Solar pump, panels, and controller: $3,600 Storage tank, piping, and four tap stands: $2,400 Water committee training and first-year spare parts: $1,200
A ten-day trip in March for up to eight people: five days of tank and tap-stand construction alongside the village crew, three days of hygiene and pump-maintenance training at the school. Travel costs are covered separately by each participant.
- That the drilling team finds good water at the surveyed depth
- For the health of the children of El Mirador until the well is running
- For wisdom and unity for the newly elected water committee
- For safe travel and good partnership for the March team
Hands still needed
Hours are the organizer's estimates. A shift may run a little longer or shorter than listed.