26 District 7890 Rotary Clubs have joined together to fund
the 32nd sustainable water and sanitation project in Guatemala

Twenty-six Rotary Clubs in northern CT and Western MA (Rotary District 7890) have joined together to
fund a project that will bring fresh drinking water, sanitation facilities and hygiene training to a needy
Mayan community in Guatemala. Including matching funds from The Rotary Foundation and those
contributed to ALDEA, the Cooperating Partner NGO, a total of $176,486 was raised. Adding this
amount to the funds raised during the previous sixteen years brings the total to $1,856,900.
Contributing clubs from Connecticut were Avon-Canton, East Hartford, Enfield, Hartford,
Kensington/Berlin, Manchester, Newington, Plainfield, Rockville, Southington, South Windsor, Suffield,
Thomaston, Torrington/Winsted, Watertown, West Hartford, Wethersfield/Rocky Hill, and Willimantic
along with Massachusetts’ clubs in Agawam, East Longmeadow, Holyoke, Northampton, Pittsfield, West Springfield, and Wilbraham/Hampden.

Also contributing funds were three Rotary clubs from neighboring Massachusetts/Rhode Island District
7950 – Chariho, Wakefield and Westerly, RI; six in southeast Florida’s District 6990 – Davie/Cooper
City, Ft. Lauderdale North Beach, Hallandale Beach/Aventura, Hollywood, Pompano Beach and Miami
Shores; four from District 6930 – Boca Raton, West Palm Beaches, Vero Beach Oceanside, Vero Beach Sunrise, FL; two from District 5030 in Washington – Auburn and Lake Forest Park; one from District 7980 – Niantic, CT ; one from District 7410 – Hazleton, PA; one from District 7430 – Bethlehem, PA; one from District 7730 – South Brunswick Islands, NC; one from District 7670 – Denver/Lake Norman, NC; one from District 7720 – First Flight, NC; one from District 7850 – Cambridge Area, VT; one from District 5360 – Calgary, Canada; and the Rotary Club of La Antigua, Guatemala in District 4250.

These funds will pay for the materials needed to complete a gravity fed water system with gray water
filters, vented pit latrines, improved vented stoves for the 115 families (725 people) who live in the rural
community of Xecoxol, Guatemala. All labor is provided by the men and women in each village. These
projects continue the goal of Rotary International to have every Rotary Club support an international
water and sanitation project every year. By working together, pooling their resources, and obtaining
Global Grants with matching funds from The Rotary Foundation, the Rotarians have been successful in
adding size and strength to their chosen projects.

District 7890 Water Committee Chair and Manchester, CT Rotarian Rick Lawrence again spearheaded the drive to raise the necessary funds by making presentations about the project to the Rotary clubs
throughout northern CT, western MA, and central RI as well as several clubs in southeastern FL. In
March 2026 he and his wife, Elin, will travel to Guatemala to visit the village funded through this Global
Grant. As done for the past 17 years, he will document photographically the improvements and
expressions of gratitude displayed by the members of the village, utilizing these during his presentations to show the Rotarians how important their past contributions were to these indigenous Mayans.

The project’s implementation will be coordinated through the host partner, the Rotary Club of La Antigua, Guatemala, and its cooperating partner, ALDEA (formerly Behrhorst Partners for Development), a non-profit organization with ties to over 95 communities in Guatemala. ALDEA helps train community-chosen people as a health promoter, a village dispensary manager and someone to oversee use of medical emergency transportation funds. ALDEA also provides extensive training in sanitation, personal hygiene, maintenance of the water system components, micro loans, nutrition, including help in school and home vegetable gardens, as well as educational talks about family planning and birth spacing. In Guatemala over 50% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition.

This Rotary Global Grant project will help address some of the basic causes of poor health and will help the villagers address basic sanitation – water systems, gray-water filters and latrines – in order to help prevent the constant illnesses that afflict the population, particularly children.

Following is the caption for the attached photograph #3472:

At a recent meeting of the Manchester Rotary Club, representatives from Rotary Clubs contributing to the Xecoxol, Guatemala water project are as follows (L-R): 

Seated behind check: Rick Lawrence – Manchester Rotarian & Project Chair; District 7890 Governor April Beston – Ludlow, MA; Elin Lawrence. 

Front Row: Vin Marinaro – Pittsfield, MA; Sam Irizarry – Enfield; Charlie Cocuzza – Cheshire; Kate Sims – Manchester; LeeAnn Johnson – Newington; Milton Rosenberg – Enfield; Art Blumer – Southington; Sandy Blumer – Hartford; Chassity Crowell-Miller – Holyoke, MA; Natalie Donais – Suffield; Joanne Alfieri – Southington; Kim Beale – Wethersfield/Rocky Hill.

Back Row: Mary Coutant Skinner – Torrington/Winsted; Clare Mazur – Manchester; John Barber – Agawam; Marc Glass – East Hartford; James O’Neil – Thomaston; Scott Leonard – South Windsor; Bill Hall – Plainfield; Matt Halisey – Hartford.

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For further information, contact Rick Lawrence at elawrlaw@sbcglobal.net or (860) 558-2793 Cell.