• Rotary Club of Santa Rosa de Copán
• Rotary Club of Gastonia, North Carolina, USA
• The Rotary Foundation (grant MG 53925)
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
• National Aqueduct and Sewerage Agency (SANAA), Government of Honduras

Subject grant funded a project to provide clean water to three Chortí indian villages, San Isidro, Chonco and Santa Cruz, all located near Copán Ruinas, Honduras. MG 53925 was approved and provided US$27,676, which was deposited in a special bank account in Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras.

Two Rotary clubs, the Gastonia Rotary Club, District 7680, of Gastonia, North Carolina, USA, and the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa de Copán, District 4250 of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras formed a partnership to fund and install clean water for three Chortí villages. Wilmer Flores, member of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa de Copán, is the host club project manager for MG 53925. Don Warren, Gastonia Rotary Club, is the overall project coordinator.

Thus far, purchases have been made toward the project as per purchase receipts (copies mailed to The Rotary Foundation). Also, we show comments from Wilmer Flores´ 2/1/05 e-mail:

Don, I would like to comment on the results of the meeting in Copán Ruinas and your last e-mail: In the bank account we have US$11,232.80 that is still to be used to pay for the projects in Phase I:

• Chlorine granules for water treatment
• Skilled labor (this would be like the brick layer)
• Transportation of materials

In total, the amount not used is approximately US$5,000. The other US$6232.80 that we have is money that we will not spend until the first project is complete in Chonco and Santa Cruz in the event there are unforeseen costs. Afterwards, whatever is left over from this part of the project, we can invest in the reconstruction project for San Isidro to buy materials such as water lines from the water source to the distribution tank to support the mayor and SANAA. I hope that SANAA is able to do the work in two months. I hope we have luck. Wilmer

January 19-23, 2005, two members of the Gastonia Rotary Club, Don Warren and Rob Collis, visited the Chortí Clean Water work sites related to the three villages. Our visit was for three primary purposes:

1) The main reason for our visit was to help solve several political problems that had developed which were holding up progress on moving forward MG 53925.

The village leaders (20+/-) of the Carrizalon Village, about 400 residents, had decided that unless the Carrizalon village received clean water first, no Chortí village would get water from The Rotary Foundation´s grants. The threats were extremely serious and were felt by some to be life threatening.

We should state that the CONIMCHH Council (coordinating council for 55,000 Chortís), as well as SANAA (Honduras´s national water agency), had both approved the first three villages to be funded by MG 53925. The opposition of the Carrizalon village leaders had no basis in reason or logic. Intervention by the overall Chortí Nation chief, Marcelena, did very little to placate the angry dissidents who felt they could force a redirection of water installation priorities.

Don Warren, Rob Collis, Fancisco Javier Lopez Zuniga and Mary Collins, International Mission Board Church Planter had the opportunity to visit the village of Carrizalon and met with 15 to 20 of the dissident leaders. The meeting, under an open shed, began as a very angry group of men unloaded on the four of us their strong intentions to get water first or else.

After about a one hour meeting, we successfully concluded the meeting with the final result being the village dissidents agreeing to support the water project for the villages of San Isidro, Chonco and Santa Cruz and for the three villages to get water ahead of Carrizalon. Some trench digging already started can now be resumed for the villages of Chonco and Santa Cruz.

The turn of events within that one hour confrontation could only be described as providential intervention that provided us with the right words to say to these angry men.

As we started to leave, we all shook hands and all of the men applauded. Whew!

2) A second reason for the visit was to see first hand a few of the 10 major mud slides that had destroyed part of the system being installed for the village of San Isidro. Some slides were the size of a school bus and other slides the size of two city blocks. These slides occurred between the primary water source on top of a mountain and the distribution tank located several miles away.

Somehow, we will need to come up with additional funding to make the necessary repairs and redo part of what was destroyed by nature.

3) Another reason for our visit was to meet with the newly formed Rotary Club in the town of Copán Ruinas, Honduras. Copán Ruinas is surrounded by the 47 Chortí villages, whereas the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa de Copán is located 75 miles south of the sites where clean water will be installed.

Future projects after MG 53925 will be led by the Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas in partnership with the Gastonia Rotary Club. It makes more sense for the local Copán Ruinas club to handle additional projects than a club 75 miles away.

The mayor of Copán Ruinas, Mauricio Arias Acquinas and wife, Maru, are both members of the Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas. Both are 100% committed to the success of the water project for the Chortís. The new Copán Ruinas Rotary Club is high energy and a great addition to Rotary International.

We had a wonderful visit and put in motion many of the things necessary to apply for additional funding for future projects once MG 53925 is complete.

Within the next few months the Gastonia Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas will submit a joint matching grant application to install clean water in additional Chortí villages. The Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas has appointed Francisco Javier Lopez Zuniga, club member, to be project manager for all Chortí clean water projects following MG 53925. The Gastonia Rotary Club, supported by numerous District 7680 clubs, has already raised an additional US$12,000 which, when matched by District 7680 and The Rotary Foundation, should total about US$50,000. The Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas may or may not be able to add to the US$12,000 at the club level.

In summary, we believe MG 53925 is now back on track. Wilmer Flores, Rotary Club of Santa Rosa de Copán Chortí Project Manager, projects a completion date of approximately mid May 2005.

We are not sure how our final completion date will fit within The Rotary Foundation guidelines, but we will do the best we can and keep all concerned apprised of our progress.

For more information about this project, contact project manager and Past President Wilmer Flores.