I have taken an insert from Moruya Rotary Club newsletter to update you all on the local girl Jessica we sponsored to travel to Guatemala to continue her Rotary Work. Our Batemans Bay Rotary club contributed $500.00 towards Jessica’s story.
Jessica graduated from Moruya High School, spent three years in the army and moved on to Sydney University. She filled in a gap year with international travel which included a stay in Guatemala. This led, after she had returned home, to an invitation from a Rotary Club in Montana to join Rotary and a local NGO in Guatemala for a clean water project. The Rotary District which covers Montana has a history of overseas projects in Guatemala.
Jessica approached our club for sponsorship. We were happy to support her and with the help of Rotary clubs in our district the $3200 return air fare was soon raised and she was able to join four other volunteers in the town of San Andres Itzapa. The project involved the construction and delivery of Biosand water purifiers for safe drinking water at home and also hand sanitizing stations at schools, hence the name of the project “Clean Hands Clean Water at home and at School, Guatemala”
At weekends the team would head off on excursions to the beautiful surrounding countryside. A weekend expedition took them to the shore of volcanic Lake Atitlan, where they met up with seven local women who worked on sewing machines rented by a cartel. The women were effectively working for around 80 cents an hour. Jessica eventually decided to expose their situation in a “go fund me” account which produced $8,500 – sufficient to donate to each of these Mayan ladies her own machine.
Jessica contracted Covid and self isolated, still finding enough to do in paper work.
Time ran out and she came home – her conclusion? “A truly humbling experience.”
“We all reserve the right to live in freedom; the shoes you wear really can’t determine what happens between your ears “ Jessica