San Lucas Toliman, Solola, Guatemala
By Joe Wakely
March 2025
AdP and I formed a killer team. They relied on me to obtain the funding for the balance of the project. I relied on their technical and social history. I have since led four additional successful global grants.
On Saturday, May 16th, I returned to the communities and met with the members of the water committee. I also met with the women's equivalent committee, on site to inspect the project from the water source ( Lake Atitlan ) to the reservoir under construction at the high point of the system.
When we inaugurated the project, only one family lived in Sanik-Ya. Approximately 60 more families have already moved in. Coffee is the cash crop in the area. Their coffee plants looked great. Indeed, Sanik-Ya and Chitulul coffee looked more healthy than any finca coffee. The project has changed the lives of 60 families. The People’s Consultants have done studies linking the introduction of water with economic development. Sanik-Ya is a poster child for that relationship. For example, less than a year after we inaugurated the water system, the town had successfully arranged to introduce electric power and a new access road. For those of you with more interest (or suffer from insomnia 😎) try this:
The first family to move into Sanik-Ya is an inspiring story. The family is the quintessential entrepreneurs. The have six milk cows and supply all the yogurt for San Lucas Toliman, a population of 31,000! He has also developed a Starbucks-like cafe and has trained his daughters as baristas!
Thank you Rotary, thank you Furman University, thank you, San Lucas Mission. The collaboration spelled success.
Sincerely,
Joe Wakely
Member and Seargent of Arms of the Rotary Club of Lake Atitlan
Shepherd of four Global Grants, District grants, and many club-to-club grants.
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