Donation to S.H.A.R.E Agriculture Foundation
Leanne Iravani, Director of International Service, Marg Frayne from SHARE, Jim Waites, President of Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora and Les Frayne, Project Manager from SHARE. A cheque for $3,000 was presented by the Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora to S.H.A.R.E. Agriculture Foundation for the purchase of 44 eco water filters for 44 families (250 people) in a remote area of Guatemala where young community members help to improve conditions in their underserviced communities.
There are few supports to communities in this area of Guatemala and the project work is done in Mayan villages which are very isolated and impoverished. All but a few of the communities are accessible by long and difficult jungle trails. A few communities are accessible by boat. The families grow corn on the hillsides to feed their families. Some families have a pig or some free range chickens or turkeys. Some that live nearer the water are fishermen. The homes are traditional thatched huts with dirt floors and wooden walls. Women cook on open fires in the hut. The water in many of the villages is sourced from streams and springs sometimes at a distance from the villages and it is polluted. Families suffer from recurring intestinal illnesses from using this water.