Tears2Water
Clean Water for Thirsty People
Clean Water for Thirsty People
Clean Water for Thirsty People
A Message from Gary
Partnerships in Ecuador
Tears2Water founder, Gary Vance, visited Ecuador in 2023 and met with Dr. Silva to assess the viability of the work. They visited numerous remote schools where he had implemented the filters. There, they met the teacher/partners, and saw firsthand the effectiveness of the program, and determined that the work has great potential for growth and sustainability. Tears2Water donated 150 more of the requested filters to Dr. Silva, who has been personally vetting and training other doctors, teachers, and fellow Rotarians in the deployment and maintenance of the Sawyer water filters.
Using the schools as strategic hubs brings solid accountability and stability to the program and enhances the logistical burden of sustaining the work. This template also maximizes the potential of each filter to provide daily clean water for dozens of families within a community rather than just a single family.
Our work in Ecuador has expanded from the rural Andes Mountain communities to the Amazon province of Napo. Another Ecuador partner, Mario Arias, teamed with the Mayor of the capital city of Tena, and provincial governmental leaders to sponsor a day of training for 25 rural teachers in outlying indigenous schools. The teachers from 25 schools were all trained in one day on how to install and maintain the filters. We donated the filters to 25 schools. and the governmental entities will be doing follow-up visits and gathering data on the health status of the children. They are all very excited and hopeful for furthering this project to another hundred schools in Napo Province. We are hoping this will become a template for future projects in other Ecuador provinces.
Partnerships in Guatemala
In 2022 we partnered with some missionary friends at Kingdom Connections International (kingdomconnectionsinternational.com) and provided filters for their mission in Guatemala. They have established sustainable work there and have added Sawyer filters to their monthly food distribution program. This is an ever-expanding project that is also showing great viability.
The projects in both Guatemala and Ecuador are growing and need hundreds of more filters. We look forward to meeting the challenge of doing our part by donating the filters, but we can only accomplish this with the help of friends! The Sawyer filter kits are costing us about $25 each. One kit can provide clean water for up to 100 people's daily needs for years to come.
Your donation of any amount will go directly toward providing clean water for school kids, rural indigenous families, and victims of disasters who desperately need it!