By Roger Allen
Friday, August 21, saw the end of a two-year process by the local Christians in Action (CIA) chapter of first, raising funds, and then, helping assemble 50 chlorination units for distribution overseas.
Distribution is handled by S.W.I.M. – Safe Water International Ministries. The units will turn unsafe water into safe drinking water for many families in several villages.
A dime at a time, youths participating in CIA at the Montezuma United Methodist Church the past year met the challenge and then some of raising more than $2,500.
The New Sharon area-based SWIM leaders needed a minimum of $1,500 to pay for materials and delivery to Africa and other areas of the world, and to lead a session of assembling the chlorinators. This is the second time in three years that CIA has teamed with SWIM to raise funds and conduct a “build” of 50 chlorinators.
Barbara Watson, director of CIA, and SWIM leaders from New Sharon, organized and conducted a build session at a shelter house on the north side of Diamond Lake, from 4 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 21.
The New Sharon crew included Build Leader Terry Butler, Earl Ratcliff and Frank Reitsma. In all, 37 volunteers participated – including near equal numbers of youths and adults.
Fifteen work stations – one for each element of assembly of a chlorinator – were set up around the shelter house, spaced out in the interest of safe personal space for participants.
Everyone wore a mask.
The leaders first gave a presentation about the SWIM program and showed posters with examples of chlorinators being delivered, with success stories about their use.
SWIM leaders demonstrated to the youth, one on one, each step of the assembly process and then involved them in the process.
Some of the steps included splitting and stripping the ends of wiring, attaching wire connectors, attaching battery clips, and soldering connections.
Near completion, two different special pieces of mesh wire – one negatively charged and one positively charged – are installed. They are at the heart of the device, creating electrolysis when current is applied.
The New Sharon team explained how the chlorinator works. One example is that it is put in a five-gallon bucket of salt water and connected to a battery. This creates a concentrated bucket of chlorine that is then bottled into containers something similar to soda bottles that are given to families. This concentrate is then used to make their personal water supply safe to drink.
According to SWIM literature, 20 percent of the world lacks access to safe water – that’s one billion people! Every day 25,000 people die from diseases related to water. Further information is available at www.swimforhim.org.