October 26, 2010

CHICAGO – At least 245 families in Guatemala will have clean water supplies thanks to a gift from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

ELCA International Disaster Response gave $9,750 to the Lutheran World Federation Department for World Service Guatemala Program to fund the purchase and delivery of water purification filters in an area hit by heavy rains and flooding this year. Families in four communities will benefit from the water purification filters, said Stephen Deal, ELCA regional representative for Central America: Santa Elena, Santo Domingo, Roto Nuevo and Caribe Río Salinas.

The communities are located along the Salinas River which serves as the western border between the Petén, Guatemala's northernmost department, and Mexico, Deal said. Most of the people benefitting from the ELCA gift are indigenous farmers, he said.

"The rainy season and storms have been so damaging," said the Rev. Raquel E. Rodriguez, ELCA Latin America and Caribbean Desk director. "The land is saturated. Flooding and mudslides have occurred over a process of several months." Many homes and crops have been damaged by the rains, she said.

Rodriguez said the ELCA became involved when Deal was asked by a Lutheran World Federation representative if the ELCA would consider contributing to the project, which was not fully funded.

The quality of water supplies in the affected communities is extremely poor, said Megan Bradfield, ELCA International Disaster Response associate director. "In normal times families obtain water from underground springs that are found in the vicinity of their communities, or from small pools or ponds. In both cases these water sources have been contaminated by the rivers which have overflowed," she said.

Bradfield said an alternative method for obtaining clean water is a high priority. The water purification filters to be purchased by the ELCA and distributed to affected families have a useful life of about one year and the capacity to purify five gallons of water per day, she said.

Information about the ELCA's work in Guatemala is at http://www.elca.org/guatemala/, on the ELCA Web site.

ELCA News Service