Presbyterian Pre and Primary School of Orange Walk

We pulled up to the fence outside the courtyard/playground right at 9 Saturday morning and were greeted by lots of activity and about a dozen college kids. A sharp contrast to the previous afternoon, when we stopped by to get a water sample only to find no one around and everything locked up. The kids were from Vanderbilt University on an Alternate Spring Break mission trip through an organization called the Belize Project doing micro-business projects in Corazol on the northern border of Belize. We explained we were with Living Waters for the World, associated with the PCUSA, and several kids volunteered that they were also PCUSA. Small world. We were ushered into a classroom with about a half dozen Presbyterian lay pastors who were being “treated” to a lecture on Medieval Church History by a retired professor from the US. Interesting to consider what was happening in Belize during the Medieval period… After making introductions and small talk, it became apparent that we were needed elsewhere, mainly because there wasn’t enough room for us and the kids from Vanderbilt. That suited us just fine!

We rounded up some chairs and clustered into Ruth Ku’s office, actually much more spacious than the Earnest Banner’s government office in Belmopan on Wednesday. The conversation was a bit awkward at first. I suspect neither side expected much to come of it, since our conversation with Raphael Ku, Ruth’s brother-in-law on Wednesday had led both sides to the conclusion that a water system might not be feasible or appropriate at this time. Our concerns were primarily whether there was a real and demonstrable health need, and theirs was whether they could afford the costs in terms of both dollars and administrative time.

We began with small talk; I asked Ruth to bring us up to date on the history and progress of the school, so we could all be on the same page. As the conversation developed, it was as if a dark cloud began to lift. I began to realize that although our objective evidence indicated that the municipal water in Orange Walk was safe, the people of Orange Walk believed that it was not, and went to great lengths and expense to drink bottled water if at all possible. Perception is reality, and the school simply could not afford the perception that it wasn’t doing everything possible to protect the health safety of its students. Thus, they would continue to provide purified water whether we decided it was safe or not. This was further reinforced for me later in the conversation when we mentioned that although the very high hardness and dissolved solids in the Orange Walk water was not a direct health issue, it did create a bad taste, and was counter-indicated for people with kidney or gallstones. A light went on in Ruth’s eyes. She said everyone she knew had kidney stones including herself and Mario, her husband. And yes, the doctors did recommend that anyone with kidney stones avoid the hard municipal water. We had, in my mind at least, our medical justification.

Ruth’s first concern was cost. She had gotten the impression from Raphael that the expense of electricity for softening and reverse osmosis would be prohibitive. Add to that the fact that roughly half the water in an RO system is thrown away, and all would need to be purchased from the town, and it looked cost prohibitive. We did some back-of-the envelope calculations and concluded that the discarded water would only add a penny or two per gallon to the delivered cost, and even the high electricity costs in Belize would only add another nickel or so. Estimating wildly, we proclaimed that the school should be easily able to produce water for less than 50 cents (Belize!) per 5 gallon, far less than the $3 they were presently paying for bottled 5 gallon jugs. Ruth convinced us that the administrative burden wouldn’t be much more than the current process for buying commercial bottled water, and that her teachers and parent would volunteer to run the water system.

We were trapped on a virtuous cycle. The complications and objections seemed to melt away. Each side seemed to find more reasons why this could work and would be a good idea. Ruth recounted how the floods last fall had forced them to purchase large quantities of bottled water to bring upriver to the families who had been flooded out and left with contaminated wells. They were left for weeks without stable water supplies. She spoke emotionally about how a water treatment system in that situation would have allowed them to serve those needs at much lower cost.

Concluding our conversation, we settled back to reality and due diligence. Pat intends to bring this prayerfully to his congregation in Cody. We assured him that we would offer support in any way that made sense for future collaboration. Chuck promised a more detailed cost analysis, knowing her costs for electricity and water. I promised to provide some contacts from Presbyterian churches in the Yucatan where similar Living Waters systems were up and running.

As we stood to leave there were warm smiles around the room. Ruth extended her hand for a departing handshake. I couldn’t help it; I gave her a big hug. She returned it in kind.

To God be the glory.
Dan