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On Dec 21, 2023 the Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club sponsored a posada in Chapala and in so doing we raised money for 100 Christmas dinners for local residents and shoes for some children.
First we practiced the song ( not that it helped)Then we joined with 80+neighbourhood children and 20+adults to go from house to house up the street.We finished in front of Oscar Ibarra's house where we had the piñata and then gave packages of candy to the children and participating adults.
Oscar then continued by hosting a typical posada meal for members of Chapala Sunrise Rotary and his family.And not to be outdone we had our own piñata! Many thanks to Oscar and Velia Unzueta and their family for their work in hosting this event.
Our classes have begun at Ojo de Agua, teaching villagers about the water contamination and sanitation. This is preparing them for understanding the system and the long term maintenance needs. A visiting Rotarian from South San Francisco and another from Richmond Sunrise, B.C., joined us at the new site for our wetlands sanitation project and to see one of the classes. The municipality of Poncitlán has laid about 200 feet of pipe to carry the flow of effluent to the new system.
Chapala Sunrise hosted a Mexican party at Letra Ch restaurant for 80 people. We played Mexican games ( Loteria, cubileto and balero), listened to Mariachis and watched folkloric dancer. Entertainment and dinner were all incredible!We are working on a design for construction of a wetlands waste treatment system for the village of Ojo de Agua. They have donated the land and we are working with partners not only to engineer the solution but to educate community members and address long term maintenance and sustainability of the system.
Our club has become much more involved in the pueblo of San Pedro Itzicán which has per capita, the highest rate of kidney disease in the Western Hemisphere. We are beginning our work with getting to know the community and their desires, and working on nutrition, dental education and joining with others on early identification of kidney disease. Hat's off to local leader, Anita Torres, who is championing the cause of this very needy and isolated community. We distributed toothbrushes at the Kid's Kitchen feeding program, for 700 children that she oversees 5 days per week.
COVID as brought challenges to Rotary Clubs worldwide. Last week, we swore in our 43rd member, Peter Harrell, by Zoom!For three years, the Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club has worked on a Global Grant to get potable water to the homes in an isolated village named Ojo de Agua. By partnering with the Rotary Club of South San Francisco and the Government of Poncitlán, along with support from other clubs and groups, we were able to dig a well, construct and electrical and chlorination systems, build a water distribution network of underground pipes and provide storage tanks and water filters for each of the 70 homes. This is a significant improvement to the lives of over 300 people. This week we did a test run of the system, flipped the electrical switch so that water was pumped into the distribution system. We will be celebrating with the villagers on August 8th with a fiesta for everyone!
The Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club has been working for three years to bring clean water, on a consistent basis, to the village of Ojo de Agua on Lake Chapala. This tiny village of 300 people has only had access to water during the rainy season, from streams off of the hillside. Nevertheless, when we tested the stream water it was rated as one of the purest sources around the Lakeside. Working in partnership with the local municipal government of Poncitlán, drilling began early this month and a clean, water was found at 200 feet. The source appears to be sufficient to supply the village. Further testing of the water must be done by the State Water authorities.
Our Club has applied for a Global Grant, with international partner clubs of South San Francisco, Lincoln, CA, Fountain Hills, AZ and Winnipeg West, Manitoba to fund the holding tank, and distribution system and home water filters, throughout the village. In the meantime, club members are teaching water and sanitation classes in the village, using United Nations approved Project Wet materials.
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People of Action
Chapala Centro,
Mexico