DEDICATION CEREMONY CHUIATZAM, SANTA LUCIA UTATLAN GUATEMALA

We did the dedication ceremony for the water system at Chuiatzam today. This project has been a great success. Due to Covid restrictions we were limited to 40 participants. 

This project was accomplished start to finish in 13 months. The community, with many women involved worked safely through the Covid crisis and four months of martial law to bring this project to fruition. 

The community held the dedication at the 50000 liter distribution tank. They had decorated the tank with flowers and spread fresh pine needles on the ground. There were many speeches and mortar shells going off overhead and then a lovely lunch was served.

Todd Thompson of the Northfield Minnesota Rotary club, known locally as profesor ( profesor Toad) entertained us all with a song he had written especially for the event. See the link below. 

I was particularly moved by the fact that at the end of the ceremony, a women climbed into a avocado tree and presented six avocados to Todd. Men from the community presented me with a bag of ripe plums. 

Sometimes, all a poor community can give back is their smiles, friendship and some local fruit. We are Rotarians and that is ample reward for our efforts.