Back in 2021, we partnered with several local churches to provide safe drinking water for Santa Familia, a village in Belize. It was in the middle of Covid, and due to regional flooding, the people of the area were left to either ration expensive bottled water, or drink unsafe water from the river.
Several Stutzman Services team members traveled to Belize and—after learning that a well could not be drilled at that location—installed a water treatment system to pump, filter and disinfect the river water. The result was a source of safe drinking water—for the church where the system was located and for the village at large.
Related: Belize Water Update: Overcoming Challenges
As author of the newsletter and website, I normally only get to write about such projects, but recently I traveled to Santa Familia myself as part of a service trip and got to check on the system in person!
I found that some modifications had been made, the most significant being that water was now entering the system from the city water supply instead of the river. That is an improvement, but water from municipal systems in Belize is not safe to drink, so the water treatment system is still necessary.
Knowing that the system’s UV lamps had likely not been replaced in a while—something that should be done annually—I received training to perform that service from our Water Treatment Technician Dennis Gabrielli before I departed for Belize.
Thankfully, the two UV lamps I packed made it to Santa Familia intact after a long flight and bumpy bus ride. In-between a painting project and children’s carinval, I worked with local technician Nati to complete the service and test the water for harmful bacteria.
At Stutzman Services, we believe we exist to “Connect People to Life” and I get the privilege of supporting an awesome team who do that every day here in the Willamette Valley. But it was a quite a different experience to see our impact thousands of miles away where clean drinking water is not taken for granted.
Life, indeed.
Written by Chris Nafziger, Communications Manager
(Gallery includes some photos of additional work done in different parts of Belize during the service trip.)
