Agua Viva spent our Spring Break at the Casa Angelina orphanage in Chimaltenango. We engaged 22 volunteers from the United States and 6 translators from Guatemala. Our work was richly blessed and most of us agree that we hit a “direct bull’s eye” with our mission statement.
The water team installed a LWftW water purification and bottling system at the orphanage for about 120 children. In addition, one of the 10 existing homes on the property received a point-of-use Sterilight Ultraviolet Filtration system for cooking, drinking, teeth brushing, and baby care. Many of our volunteers worked on the Education Team. One of our teams provided training for six new adult educators. Two other Education Teams provided health and spiritual education for Casa Angelina and several classrooms at the local Tululche Public School.
Agua Viva was greatly blessed to bring a dentistry team who, along with a team of assistants, served the needs of the orphanage and surrounding community during the week. For many of these beautiful children, this was their first visit to a dentist. Our dentist provided 19 fillings, 49 extractions, and 120 teeth cleanings. What a week!!
Agua Viva was also able to expand our ministry in multiple ways over the course of this March week. First of all, we included two young adults from Freedom Fire Inner City Ministries in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Aheem Kimmons and Nicholas Cacy joined the team and this was Aheem’s first time to “get on an airplane”. “The takeoff was pretty smooth, but the landing was a little scary”, said Aheem.
Secondly, the bottled water from the new system will be shared with 10 widows in the local community around the orphanage. What Matters Ministries, which runs the orphanage, had previously sponsored the construction of small, cinder block homes for these widows who have very little means of support. Agua Viva sponsored dispenser stands for the five gallon water bottles for each of these homes to assist with effective and clean usage of the water.
Lastly, our LWftW purification and bottling systems are dependent on an adequate water supply to begin with and Casa Angelina has struggled some with the existing wells on its property. They have been raising funds to hand dig a new well that is expected to become the primary, future source for the growing population at the orphanage. Agua Viva volunteers were so moved by this need that they pledged approximately two-thirds of the remaining funding needed for this project!
The “bull’s-eye” that we felt was struck on this particular mission to Casa Angelina and the Tululche community can only be defined as divine archery intervention. Thank you, God!
