The Healthy Water Project for District 5190 Rotarians

A simple five-gallon bucket.  The kind you buy for a few bucks at your local hardware store.  It’s so common you never pay any attention to it.  But, in the hands of Rotary it can change lives - and for families in the Baja region of Mexico and yours too.

Heard about our District 5190-sponsored project in Baja, Mexico coming soon?  It’s called the Healthy Water Project.  This project takes the ordinary to extraordinary!  

Read all about it!

The Project

Participants will distribute water filtration kits to people in the rural communities around Los Barriles, Baja Sur, Mexico.  Participating Rotarians will learn how the water filtration kits function from lead trainers and then teach recipient families how to use them sustainably.

This project is a joint effort by District 5190 clubs, the Los Barriles Cabo de Este Rotary club, and coordinated by the Nevada City Rotary Club.  We will provide water filtration kits to 300 Mexican residents of Cabo de Este area of Baja Sur, Mexico where the groundwater is not safe to drink.  A district grant of $7500 and matching club donations totaling $7500 will fund the project.  Each club must donate a minimum of $250 for its members to participate.

Los Barriles is a small Mexican town on the Baja peninsula and Sea of Cortez 70 miles north of Cabo San Lucas. The population fluctuates with the seasons and is comprised of about two-thirds local Mexicans and one third foreign residents from the USA, Canada, and Europe. It’s beautiful community is known around the world for its safety and tranquility, big game fishing, boating, kite boarding and wind surfing, temperate climate, and the friendliest people you have ever met.

Project Dates

Participation will begin in January and end in April 2022 for three-day work sessions:

  • February 3, 4 and 5
  • February 17, 18 and 19
  • March 3, 4 and 5
  • March 10, 11 and 12
  • March 24, 25 and 26
  • April 7, 8 and 9
  • April 21,22 and 23
  • (Dates may be subject to change due to Covid.)

For each session, the Los Barriles club can host between 6-18 Rotarians who will work in groups of 7.  That includes an in-country specialist, local and visiting Rotarians.

Benefits for You

Visiting Rotarians will have the ability to interact directly with Mexican families living in the rural areas of the East Cape.  The opportunity to help train families on the proper use of the Sawyer Water filter is a very rewarding experience because it’s a hands-on opportunity to contribute to healthier lives.

Over the last five years, Club Rotario Los Barriles Cabo de Este has delivered over 1,500 clean water systems to families in the East Cape/Cabo de Este region.  Almost every visiting Rotarian that has participated in this international project has experienced a true “Rotary moment”.  Can you imagine having safe drinking water easily accessible in your house for the first time in your life?  Ordinary for us, extraordinary and life-changing for these families!  All this and the location is not far from us nor expensive – between $1000-1200 per day for basic expenses.

Local officials support this project; so recipient families are very open to learning about getting clean water and are appreciative of this service.

So, come for the experience and the rewards:  fellowship, enduring friendships, cross-cultural learning, work and play.

For More Information about Travel, Lodging and Tourism in Los Barilles please CLICK HERE

How to Register

Ready to join us and sign up for a wonderful Rotary experience?  First, your club must donate a minimum of $250 to the funding of this project for club members to be eligible.  Covid-19 vaccination is required also.

CLICK HERE to register for this event.

Payment Details for Club Donations to the Healthy Water Project
Payment:
  • Check written to Rotary Club of Nevada City.  
  • Nevada City is handling the financials for this project.
  • Please put in the memo field “Water Project in Los Barriles”.
Mail:
Rotary Club of Nevada City
P. O. Box 74
Nevada City, CA  95959
Please make sure to tell us the name of your Rotary Club
 

CLICK HERE to download the Club Donation Form for Healthy Water Project

Look for an October 21st e-mail message from Ginny Lewis with the registration form and submit it to Ginny Lewis at DEA@District5190.org

Questions?

E-mail Bill Boon at whboon@sbcglobal.net or Carolyn Feuille at cfeuille@espritgloballearning.com

Better yet, designate someone in your club to help with registrations and questions.  We ask all club International Service Chairs to contribute in this way.

Starting in December, we will post updates on travel preparation and tourism in the Los Barriles area for participating Rotarians.  These will be on our district website, Facebook page and perhaps in Zoom meetings (if needed) since we can’t meet in person.