Six students from The Texas A&M University System were recently awarded travel scholarships to Guatemala where they coordinated the digging of a water well with Living Water International to a village in desperate need of clean water.
The scholarships were provided by SSC (Services for Education) and the students planned and helped dig a water well in the town of El Amatillo, a small Guatemalan village of about 800 people who live in 125 houses but have lacked access to clean water facilities.
After several days of drilling and work and with help from men from the El Amatillo area, a successful water well was completed. Additionally, the students spent several days teaching hygiene lessons to local residents, including lessons on proper handwashing and parasite prevention.
Texas A&M students participating included Maureen McClellan of Katy; Razan Ghabin of Dubai and Houston; Desiree Espericueta and Sasha Guzman of Texas A&M-San Antonio; and Marilyn Dunn and Seif Hediya of Prairie View A&M.
Accompanying the students were SSC representative Sarah Boreen and Ida Noack of irrigation services firm Weathermatic which has partnered with SSC on a project called Save Water Give Life to help the almost 1 billion worldwide who do not have daily access to clean water.
“There was plenty of time for community building, and the students enjoyed visiting with the women and children of the village and working alongside the men of the community,” Boreen said.
“The days were long and intense, but the students truly loved the experience. It was rewarding to see students from various Texas A&M campuses coming together and bonding as a team with the common goal of bringing clean water to El Amatillo.”
“We love the opportunity to showcase this program as it illustrates how strong partnerships can benefit the community,” SSC President Seth Ferriell said. “I appreciate Weathermatic, Living Water and most importantly Texas A&M University for helping us accomplish this for the people of El Amatillo, Guatemala.”
SSC awarded similar travel scholarships to Texas A&M students in 2016 to build a water well in Nicaragua and also in 2017 where students provided a well in El Salvador.
Media contact: Sarah Boreen at SSC at (979) 458-3479 or sarah.boreen@sscserv.com or Keith Randall at (979) 845-4644 or keith-randall@tamu.edu
