At the club meeting of March 10th, the program was a presentation on a trip to El Salvador by seven club members. The purpose of the trip was to visit the site in Metalillito of the recently completed composting toilet project, meet with the community and Rotarians involved, learn about the country, and develop contacts for future projects. (Inset pictures shows team members with San Salvador Noreste club members and community members in front of the new water tank...click to enlarge.)
 
An enthusiastic Mechanicsburg Rotary club team presented a program about their trip on behalf of the club to visit the community of Metalillito. They went to see first hand the results of the Rotary Global Grant Project to build 196 composting toilets, build a 100 cubic meter water tank, and complete a few other items in this poor and remote village in El Salvador. The members who went on the trip from Feb. 26 to Mar. 5 were Amy Bockis (team leader), Dave Burns, Tom Burson, Sheryl Delozier, John Petrie, Don Seiple, and Joe Wright.
 
Although the team did many things on the trip, it primarily reported on the visit to Metalillito (Sat. Feb 27) to meet the community and see the project work which had been done. Upon arrival in the community, the team found a large group of community members assembled. There was a program in which our team and the Rotarians from the host partner club, San Salvador Noreste, were thanked for the work. Our team was presented a plaque by that club thanking us for our support. Community members thanked the team and Rotary and each of the group had the opportunity to introduce themselves and to say a few words to the community.
 
After the celebration, the group visited a nearby composting toilet (one of 203) and inspected it inside and out and gave it their approval. (Shown in picture is San Salvador Noreste Club President Irvin.) The group then went to visit the 100 cubit meter water tank which was an addition to the project made possible with leftover funds. That tank was almost ready to go into service pending completion of some of the piping which had been laid. The tank is at a high point in the community which makes possible a gravity fed system and water availability 24/7 versus the old in ground reservoir which only provided water when the pump ran a few hour each day. 
 
Many of the toilets can be seen in Google Earth. Follow this link and look for the small square dots on either side of Moscua Road. Those dots are the roofs of the toilets.
 
 
On Thursday the following week, the team members attended the regular meeting of the San Salvador Noreste club. They reported that it was most enjoyable and they were graciously received by the club members and thanked. It was clear that there is a good relationship between our clubs and that there is interest in working together to do other projects. 
 
The team did many other things during the eight days in order to learn about El Salvador and become better prepared to understand and recommend future projects. This occurred by learning experiences and through making contacts with people who may be able to help. One of the highlights of the trip was spending a night in the community of Papaturro. Pairs of team members spent the night with a family who fed them dinner and breakfast. Although there were language barriers, all thought that it was a very meaningful experience.
 
Further info about this project can be found by going to the Stories tab at the top of the page and looking back through the progress reports.