Arrived safely, and prepared to start our work.

Retalhuleu, the town from which our mission will reach out.

 Welcome to Guatemala! We received a wonderful welcome in Guatemala City by Pastor Fredy (The main leader of the Living Waters for the World network in country), his son Javier and Claudia who has guided the growth and details of Living Waters in this region until now.We also met several key people who are making this mission such a success!

Cupula de Zion courtyard.

We boarded a wonderful, and air conditioned bus for the four hour drive to Retaluleu where we met Marco, who with his family, run a beautiful hotel which will be our home for the coming week, Cupula de Zion. We were also introduced to Miriam, who will be taking over from Claudia, and also translating for our Education team in Mazatenango.

Our preparations for the week began by unpacking the two systems and three sets of educational materials, for two new sites and one already installed. We also went over the lesson plans in details, understanding the information flow as well as who will have the various jobs of teaching or facilitating for our three days of education.

The education component of the Living Waters mission is key, as it teaches not only what clean water is, but how to use it in a way respectful of the value of this commodity and healthful for the entire population served by the systems.

 

Dave, Eric and Nancy sorting through materials.

While being hosted by Carlos and his family, we are eating very well! They are amazing cooks and hosts, and our time of planning the next day's events will be spent in a very comfortable and productive environment.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is our first teaching day. Though we know what kind of things we may expect, the number one rule of mission work is to be flexible! Come back tomorrow to see how it went.

Eric, Jean and Miriam going over tomorrow's lesson plan.