While there is no shortage of water in El Salvador, almost 60% of the rural population has no access to a reliable water source, forcing women and girls to walk long distances and pay high prices to obtain water of dubious quality. In cities, water is almost never lacking in wealthy neighborhoods where pools are common, while in poor areas where water is available only a few hours a day or during the night, the price can reach 10% of a household's income.

The communities where ENLACE works are certainly not immune to these problems. In communities like Las Delicias on average residents pay 30% of their income to buy dirty water from water trucks during the six-month dry season. However, great strides are being made to bring clean water to the nearly 10,000 residents in the area (www.projectmilagro.com). 

Since 1993, ENLACE has already helped local churches and communities implement five water projects benefitting nearly 15,000 people. 

Just $50/month for 10 months or a gift of $500 will bring water to one household for generations to come. Donate now to project milagro and be part of the miracle!

• Cornerstone Church (Simi Valley, CA) contributed a significant gift in February and provided the necessary funding to begin construction of the first pipeline of the project. 
• ANDA (the national water company) donated over 1 mile of piping and provided technical help for the installation. 
• Starting in March, over 80 people from the various communities worked on a daily basis to dig the piping by hand.  Within six weeks the piping was installed. (see video)
• The Orange County (CA) chapter of Engineers Without Borders helped fund, design and construct a large water tank in Maroquines (between Rosario and Las Delicias).   
• Willow Creek Community Church signed on to provide the filtration system (to be completed by March 2010) which will clean the water supply of iron and manganese. 
• The necessary infrastructure has been built at the well station. 
  • First pumps installed 
  • Electrical system installed 
  • First re-pumping tank constructed 
• A number of U.S. churches and organizations have come alongside the project this year including the following: 
  • San Diego First Baptist 
  • The Crossing (Costa Mesa, CA) see video
  • Crossroads Church (Temecula, CA) 
  • Meadowbrook Church (Champagne, IL) 
  • Foothill Christian Schools
  • Engineers Without Borders
  • Samurai Enterprises 
  • Vanguard University 
  • AJA Charitable Fund 
  • Cornerstone Church (Simi Valley, CA) 
  • Willow Creek Community Church 
• Approximately $250,000 was raised in 2009 from U.S. partners and individuals. 

LOOKING AHEAD

In 2010 there is still a huge hill to climb. In the coming weeks we will describe in more detail the goals for moving forward. We hope to raise at least the same dollar amount as 2009 and begin construction on stages five and six.  

God continues to perform miracles in the communities of Las Delicias. Please continue to pray for more miracles and for the protection and provision of all the incredible people in the three communities who press forward in their goal for clean water.

Community volunteers form a human chain to distribute concrete for the tank's foundation.Work continues on the second inline tank just outside the town of Rosario. The tank foundation pad was finished shortly after the Engineers Without Borders team left a few weeks ago. This team from southern California was instrumental in preparing the land to support the heavy structure of the tank.  

Several local cement companies proved less than helpful in providing concrete for this stage of theMaria Marina Lopez assists tank construction. project, implying that the tank site was too far away to profitably deliver the cement. This was not a minor setback. However ADSA and Miguel Durán stepped up with a swell of volunteer labor. Because the cement delivery was no longer an option, a portable cement mixer was used requiring manual distribution of the concrete. On Friday October 9, over 35 volunteers materialized to make the concrete work happen. Among them was longtime Milagro advocate Marina Lopez: once again volunteering, once again working right alongside the men at 64 years old.  

ENLACE's Paco Gonzalez supervised the slab and foundation steps very closely. He has rigorously conducted quality-control assessments throughout the process. Slump tests and variable-period cylinder tests assure that Rebombeo #2 will last for generations to come.  

It's about 5:30 in the morning, and Marina is already up.  Since she has no running water in her house,Marina hauls water in buckets for the portable cement mixer during wall construction. Marina will walk about a kilometer to a river to bathe.  For you and me, walking through the morning chill to a cold shower in a river sounds uninviting, but this is only part of the hardship that Marina will face this morning.  Marina will carry her 20-year-old son to the river, as well. Osmán has a mental handicap that also affects his limbs, making the trek down the mountain extremely difficult.

Marina will be one of the first to receive clean, running water after the completion of the next phase of Project Milagro; but she has been involved longer than most.  She began volunteering over five years ago and now, at 64 years old, continues to haul bricks and dig trenches alongside the men of the community.  Miguel Durán, president of ADSA and community coordinator, says he's lost count of how many times Marina has shown up to a work site to help out.

Marina works just as hard as much younger women to help Project Milagro.In a 2007 interview Marina told ENLACE, “I will be really happy when we get water; things will be better.”  It's the hope of having clean water for herself and her family that motivates her to work so tirelessly.  With continued donations and local volunteer labor, it is possible that within a year Marina will cease her 3-times-per-week trip carrying her son to a river to bathe next to cows and other animals. Perhaps soon Marina and Osmán can have sanitary water running in their home.

Michelle, Maria, Omar, Michelle, and David: Volunteers from one of the CA chapters of Engineers Without Borders.

Nonetheless, the pickup is moving quickly through the turn; the driver is running late. Running late isn't unusual for Paco Gonzalez, ENLACE engineer in charge of Project Milagro. Paco's plate today, like most days, is quite full. Even so, working for a project that will provide accesible, clean water to thousands of residents in rural El Salvador is more than worth the effort.

After attending two meetings already, Paco is now off to a consultation with a group of engineers from the United States. Engineers Without Borders, an NGO based in Boulder, CO, is involved with projects in over 45 developing countries around the world. Five of its 12,000-plus members are working with ENLACE on a holding tank a few kilometers above the well site of this project. A week or two ago, the tank site (Rebombeo #2) was a collection of scrub brush and sink holes along the side of a mountain between Las Delicias and Las Animas. As of today, the ground is being excavated and compacted in order to host the 60 square meter water tank for Rebombeo #2.

These rebombeos are one of the protective measures planned into Project Milagro.  Because of theMichelle and Maria consult Fritz on how to negotiate with a local Cement supplier.geographic size of the project, engineers decided that several inline pumps would be more effective than several megalithic pumps at the well site. The purpose of these rebombeo tanks is to maintain water levels in case power is lost.

Loss of power happens quite frequently in El Salvador's rainy season. And if the pumps are left running without any water in the pipeline, they can burn out. Enter the rebombeo tanks.  They hold enough water to buy some time if power is lost at a station below one of the inline pumps.

If all goes well with Engineers Without Borders, Paco, along with local volunteers, will finish this tank within a few weeks. Then, back into the red diesel Toyota for Paco, and off to more meetings about the next steps and future phases of the project.  

Last week construction was completed on the protective wall surrounding rebombeo #1.  The weekThe Tapial (protective wall) around rebombeo #1. prior, a team of 25 people came from The Crossing Church in southern California. The Church has been visiting El Salvador now for more than 4 years and some of the team members have been here as many as 7 times.

While a few setbacks made construction progress slow during the stay of the team, there was indeed a foreseeable effect from their presence; the number of community volunteers swelled noticeably. Local volunteers tend to gravitate to a work project/site when support from a foreign land shows up. The swell in number of community volunteers continued last week after the Crossing team had returned to California. The result was the completion of the tapial: a protective wall the will secure the re-pumping tank.

ADSA publicly expressed deep gratitude to The Crossing Church for their support.  Teams like The Crossing who are involved in a multi-year relationship with a local community play an important role in motivating and empowering the local church to transform its community.

You have to make the personal connection; that's the only way you'll get it.

The Crossing Church stands, shoulder-to-shoulder, with community members from Las Delicias, El Rosario, and Las Animas working on The Miracle.

It's been a busy week for Project Milagro. Here's what has transpired.

The oversight committee was incredibly excited as the first of two industrial-strength pumps wasENLACE eingineer Paco Gonzalez reviews manufacturer specifications for pump #1. installed at the well site. The process stretched out for three days and incorporated several community members, two specialized technicians from Ecopar, an engineer with Procosal, and our own engineer, Juan Francisco or "Paco" as some of you may know him. This 30-horse-power pump transmits water at a rate of 222 gallons per minute. The electricity infrastructure is in place and after the delicate process of connecting it is completed, the pump should be running within three weeks.

Another step forward this week occurred at the site of the first pump (Rebombeo #1). Skilled masons worked alongside community members to pour the foundation for the protective wall that will be constructed starting August 17. Additionally, The Crossing Church arrived to help build a eight-foot high wall around the redistribution tank and assist pump.

Community members prepare the foundation for the arrival of The Crossing Church.Speaking of The Crossing Church, they have been partnering with Project Milagro since the beginning in 2004, and their continued presence has one of many noticeable, encouraging benefits: When the community members know that The Crossing will be in El Salvador, the number of volunteers jumps noticeably, attesting to the gratitude and mutual respect that the community has for those involved in this project.

It's been a busy week for Project Milagro. Here's what has transpired. A view from the foundation trenches around the complete Rebombeo #1. 

The redistribution tank (Rebombeo #1) is finished.  It has been filled with water for over a week now and remains leak-free.  The tank is vital because it acts as a buffer in the water flow.  If there is a problem in the water flow from the well site (i.e. power outages, etc.), it will prevent the in-line pumps from being damaged.

The next step is to construct a protective wall around the outside of this tank and install a smaller, assist pump.  To accomplish this, The Crossing Church will arrive August 15 from Costa Mesa, CA to support local volunteers in wall construction. Trenches have been dug as we wait for the foundation to be laid for the wall.

Another major development last Wednesday was a general assembly meeting that Community members fired off questions to ADSA members for over an hour.took place in the Las Delicias municipal hall.  About 200 people attended in the sweltering dusk to hear ADSA present a progress report on Project Milagro.  ENLACE provided a handout illustrating both the steps completed and remaining.  (Click here.)

Along with providing basic information about the project's progress, such meetings are one of the integral functions of ADSA for two reasons. ADSA's transparency is of the utmost importance as it sends a message that encourages trust from the community.  Additionally, the more well-informed a community is the more cohesive it becomes.  At the end of the assembly meeting, after an hour of ADSA answering questions and addressing concerns, the community members filed out of the casa comunál (assembly hall) content and committed to moving forward on this phase.

Local water recipients-to-be weigh in about the economic effects that Project Milagro will bring.