Mac, Water and Cuba

This weekend I've been crashing the Living Waters for the World education retreat.  They happen to be here at Ferncliff, a few of the Solar School instructors are part of it, Mac from my first out-of-the-country mission trip to Baja, Mexico in 2006 is part of it, and I'm going to attend their Clean Water University training in April.  So I took some of my weekend to sit in, hear more about them and meet more technology-minded Christians doing impressive work in the name of God.  There are eleven other small world moments that make me feel drawn to this group, a few of which I will explain at the end of this article.

Me and Mac (Shenandoah Buddies!)

They got a tour of the Eco Center, a bonfire, and a demonstration of depression fireworks out of me in exchange for letting me hear all their trade secrets.

"Living Waters for the World mission teams empower their partners to provide clean, sustainable water and health education for their communities."  Pay attention. clean water AND health education.

 

This video and others from  http://livingwatersfortheworld.org/LWW_Video.php

This is a group of Presbyterians that set up water filtration systems to provide purified, filtered, and treated water to communities across the world.  AND they set up health education in the communities, by members of the communities along with the water treatment system.  They have 689 working systems  in 25 (soon to be 26) different countries.  They are so large because four times a year they train missionaries on how to install and teach about their system at Clean Water University.

After training at Clean Water University, mission teams go into the area, install the system, train an in country operator, AND train a handful of local teachers to teach health and hygiene to the customers who will get the clean water.

At this weekend's retreat, staff, board members, Clean Water University instructors, network leaders, and long time volunteers met to discuss some larger organizational shifts, and to re-format their curriculum based on a new direction of the organization.  They focused on keeping consistency in the process for their systems in all 26 partner countries.

Picture from http://livingwatersfortheworld.org/LWWPO.php

This organization has become much bigger than ever anticipated and they are responding to keep a consistent quality and effectiveness in all their systems.  Recently with the opening of US trade with Cuba, LWW made national news in a NY Times article about how faith partnerships between the two nations have existed while economic partnerships were on a hiatus.  More on faith partnerships with Cuba through Living Waters here.  Mac and a handful of other folks here recently returned from a trip to Cuba.

Steve on LWW staff says that it is amazing that they are becoming more widespread and well known, but they need to make sure they are delivering a consistent model and a consistent product to systems carrying the Living Waters for the World name. This meeting was to get all of their US leadership on the same page, and now I'm sort of on that page as an observer and future Clean Water University student.

To avoid explaining the hours of boring details of the organization's new direction, I'll sum it up as best I can.  The idea is this;  in the name of sustainability, there needs to be more effort and work by the people in the country to asses sties, organize sites, and keep them running after the mission teams set up the system and education.  Some assessments and surveys originally done by Clean Water University graduates in the US will be more sustainable if they are done by people who live in the country and know it better.  The U.S. teams are starting to work themselves out of some of the work so that more ownership and responsibility lies with "The Networks".  By empowering more people in the communities where the systems go it builds more ownership, feeling of responsibility and importance that can keep the systems running without dependence on the Clean Water University grads.  They still keep the partnership but it puts more of the power and ownership to the people that actually make and drink the water.  That is the shift toward sustainability.  

I want to emphasize that if you train at Clean Water University you are being trained to organize a community to provide clean water for themselves.  Your job will be to teach them how the system works, and set them up to run the system on their own.  It is easiest to work in countries where networks of leaders are already established.  They are happy to train you to set up a network in another country.

Although much of the meeting was like watching a cake bake in a solar oven, over my head, and a little bit boring, it was very insightful to see a Presbyterian group grapple and struggle with an issue so important as bringing bacteriologically-safe water and health education to communities without something so basic as clean water.  At a time when the denomination is being divided over some divestment issues and rules on same sex marriages I am glad to see people that disagree on those topics come together to make decisions about providing sustainable clean water to a generation.  There are still things we agree on as Christians and it's important we act on what we believe is right.  We shouldn't dissolve partnerships on things like clean water because of political ideals and differing biblical interpretations of something entirely separate like gay marriage. 

Please pray for this organization in their discernment of a sustainable future.  You may even consider Living Waters for the World as a partner with your church mission teams. They offer Clean Water University several times each year for you to learn how to set up a trip to bring their teaching model and water system to a church or community you already partner with, or to tag along in a place they are already working.  If you don't have time, tell someone about it or consider donating toward their work in your monthly or annual giving. https://www.livingwatersfortheworld.org/Page6-GetInvolved.php

They are an inspiring group of missionaries that I was grateful to spend the weekend with, and I'm sure you'll love them too!

 The End.

LWW Retreat group.  Can you spot anyone you know?

P.S. Here are just a few other small world connections I saw this weekend, if you ever wondered how small the world is, or how much Presbyterians do together.

At General Assembly in June, I met Stephanie and Dan T of LWW.  Dan and his son Ben were key leaders in the Fossil Free PCUSA effort I mentioned in a past article.  Stephanie introduced me to Chris McRae of Solar Under the Sun and the conversation with him was essentially the reason I chose accept the placement here at Ferncliff.

Another guy, Danny K has a son who works at Camp Hopewell and met my fellow Little Rock YAVs Molly and Dan B. at the Program Connection conference a few weeks ago.  Camp Hopewell is where I'm taking Clean Water University 103 in April.

The only other 103-trained person in Shenandoah Presbytery is a man named Dan W. who is a cousin to Liz B., Liz is our PDA National Response Team leader here in Little Rock.  I was with Liz on Friday when the LWW arrived.  Dan W's grandaughter Isabelle was one of my campers at Nature Camp that I taught with Gus and Kate.  Liz asked me about Isabelle during my interview with Ferncliff just before I went to General Assembly.

I decided to come to Ferncliff because so many of these things were lining up in June and I figured God was involved somehow.