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Bruce Clemens
The Power of Collaboration
Thank you to Janet Seddon with the Rotary Club of Petaluma CA for sharing a synopsis of day five of the 2019 Guatemala Summit. Enjoy!...
In January 2020, two People's Consultants board members were joined by several members of Rotary Clubs (from both the USA and Canada) that have funded Agua del Pueblo projects, and AdP took them to see the progress in the communities. We were fortunate that this trip took place before the Pandemic resulted in travel restrictions, but these restrictions have made it impossible to continue our tradition of an annual “summit” trip in early 2021.
A quick view into the events of our 2020 Summit include:
Tuesday, January 14: Fly into Guatemala City. We met with Guatemalan AdP founders for dinner and/or nightcaps. Wednesday, January 15: Agua del Pueblo’s Director Emeritus, Lic. Carlos Gomez spoke with the group about potable water and sanitation’s impact on the history and socio- economic situation in the Mayan highlands. He saved thousands of lives during the 25-year revolution and guerrilla war. We will drive to Panajachel (Pana). Thursday, January 16: Enjoyed morning shopping, participated in the local Rotary weekly meeting and spent the evening with Joe and Todd’s 2020 tour. Friday, January 17: We took a boat ride to San Lucas Tolimán. Dr. Paul Wise from Stanford discussed the relationship between water and health in highland Guatemala. We then visited with the leaders of our recently completed Global Grant WASH project (Phase 0) as well as met with former guerrilla leaders.
Saturday, January 18: Visited local partner NGO (Mayan Power & Light..)
Sunday, January 19: Took a boat ride to Santiago Atitlan to visit the site of the assassination of one of AdP’s founders, Father Stan Rother of Oklahoma.
Monday, January 20: Visited ongoing projects in Nuevo Progreso, met with the mayor and Mil Milagros, and visited the AdP HQ. Two other Guatemalan Rotary Clubs and MM helped brainstorm about projects that are NOT in Lake Atitlan’s watershed. Tuesday, January 21: Some of us visited Mr. John Barrie’s Mayan Power and Light project while others travelled to Antigua via Iximche Wednesday, January 22: Enjoyed a day in Guatemala while traveling to Antigua via Iximche Thursday, January 23 - Saturday, January 25: Participated in Rotary’s Central American Project Fair. Sunday, January 26: Headed back home after a wonderful visit to Guatemala
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