Project to Construct Drinking Water Tank: Water is Life, Make Life Worth Living

We are constructing a tank with the capacity to hold 10,000 gallons of potable water in order to fulfill the needs of the more than 3,000 people who inhabit the communities known as La Piedra I, La Piedra II, and the surrounding area.

In these communities the majority of the children and adults suffer from parasites and diseases that arise from not having purified drinking water. In the last medical operative that we conducted, we discovered that of every 100 children and adults that we treated, 92% suffered from amoebas.

Description:

The project is located in the community of La Piedra I, which is near Bani de Toro in the Municipality of Guerra, Santo Domingo Province, Dominican Republic. It is one hour from the National District and 25 minutes north of Las Americas Airport.

The community is composed of 60% Dominicans and 40% Haitians, the majority of whom previously lived along the floodbanks of the Río Ozama in the National District. They are survivors of Hurricane Georges, which made a direct hit on Santo Domingo in 1998, and other tropical storms and floods, which caused these people to lose family members and the majority of their few possessions. The Dominican government offered them low-priced land in La Piedra I and La Piedra II.

This is a dry region, rough and rocky. The land is called karst and is considered to be too rocky to be of any agricultural value. Karst lands are produced by the actions of carbonic acid, which accumulates in rainwater as it falls through earth's atmosphere, on limestone, which millions of years ago was ancient coral reefs that were lifted above the sea by geologic forces.

Lifestyle:

The people of these communities live by raising chickens and goats, and a little food, but not even enough for local consumption, and by doing occasional work for hire, called chiripeo by the locals. They live in extreme poverty. About 60% earn less than US$2 per day for lack of employment, and one in three earns less than US$1 per day, thus our focus on helping them.

a) Road access is very bad and the only available transportation is motorcycle taxies
b) Drinking water is only available for sale in 5-gallon bottles that cost US$1 each
c) Only 10% of the residents have access to electricity
d) There are no telephone lines, no Internet or other types of technology available
e) The closest first aid center is a 45-minute drive away
f) The closest school, which only has grades Pre-K through 4, is 30 minutes away
g) Sources of labor--none

Mission:

To provide free drinking water to the community and thus reduce to 0% the multiple debilitating diseases caused by drinking polluted water, such as amoebas, colera, and parasite-induced condition. We believe that all of us are God's children, with the right to life, love, education, health, and a roof over our heads.

Who will benefit from the project?

This project and the other projects and programs that we are developing, are for the direct benefit of the residents of the communities known as La Piedra I and La Piedra II, of the Municipality of Guerra, Province of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This and our other projects and programs provide direct and indirect benefits to the more than 3,000 people who live in and around the two La Piedra communities.

Stages of the Water Tank Project:

1- First we must purchase the construction materials
2- Then we will construct the tank
3- Finally, we will distribute the drinking water absolutely free.

Total cost, First stage of drinkable water tank project: US$5,000.00.

We invite you to contribute, to be a part of this life giving project. Water is life, make life worth living. Come be part of the team and work with us to create a better life, a better nation. 100% of the money will be invested to the project, all the members and directive we are volunteers. Trabajamos por el amor a la vida, sin un pago al cambio.