Casa Angelina is a beautiful orphanage situated on a mountaintop near Chimaltenango. Many of the children who live here were abandoned at landfills in Guatemala, but now live in lovely family homes with a “mother and father” figure. Twenty-two Agua Viva volunteers spent Spring Break at Casa Angelina installing a water purification and bottling system at the orphanage that serves about 120 children. In addition to the main filtration system, 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. Two teams of volunteers worked on the Health and Hygiene Education: one team trained six adult educators in a train the teacher model, while the other team provided health and spiritual education for children at the orphanage. Educators had the privilege of visiting the local public school, 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 the children, this was their first visit to a dentist. The AVI purification and bottling systems are dependent on an adequate water supply and the existing wells on its property run dry at times. 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. During our 2018 follow-up visit, the well is complete, the systems are in very good working order and continue to provide pure water for children, adults and widows in the community.
