I bike for a variety of reasons. For example: I bike for exercise, to be kind to the environment, to be outside in nature, to get fresh air deep into my lungs, to learn about new places, to meet new people, to live in the moment, to give the ruminating in my head a rest, to be in constant moving meditation and to reconnect with myself during the long hours of silence that are hard to find in the bustle of everyday life.
Now, I’m excited to add another reason…a bike ride fundraiser for Los Buenos Vecinos (LBV)/The Good Neighbors, a grassroots non-profit in Guatemala. Just like the Flight Attendant who reminds us to put our oxygen mask on first and then proceed to help others, I have my mask firmly placed and am ready to help where needed.
I became interested and involved in LBV in a roundabout way. Last spring, before the pandemic hit, I wanted to volunteer in Guatemala at a place called, Maya Pedal that uses bicycle powered energy for daily chores. I got ahold of the representative in the US, Dave Renfrow, in Montana and then, abruptly, everything stopped. Fast forward a few weeks and Dave, along with a few key people not affiliated with Maya Pedal, had pivoted on a dime. The needs of the community had dramatically changed. Actually, they hadn’t changed at all. Now, it was just too critical to ignore or put off any longer. Rural communities in Guatemala, and especially Indigenous Mayan communities, have historically taken the brunt of failed systems of modern structures and government support that most of us take for granted. Luxuries like electricity, safe drinking water, or any water for that matter, needed to simply to wash your hands, dishes, or clothes, is non-existent in most areas of Guatemala outside of the major cities.
Elmer Arriaga, the founder of LBV and the person in charge on the ground in San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala, along with his compaños, Minor Tagua and Julia Azurdia, went into action building Tippy Tap hand washing stations for school and home use. At the same time, this team, along with volunteers from the community and abroad, began building bio-sand filters for both school and community use. Together they can eradicate disease by 80% or more. Guatemala has the highest rate of malnutrition in Latin America and fourth highest in the world (50% in general 70% and up in indigenous populations) due mostly to chronic diarrhea from disease found in dirty drinking water and poor sanitation – as in no water to wash your hands. Add a pandemic to the mix and you have a colossal recipe for complete disaster – especially in indigenous rural communities where LBV mostly work.
So, how can I, you, we help? Follow the link to the Los Buenos Vecinos website on the front page of this blog (losbuenosvecinos.com) and make a donation to help build more tippy taps and bio-sand filters. All your donations go directly to materials. There is no middle-man, no one skimming off the top, no embezzling to build a private mansion. This grass-roots organization gets some funding from Guatemala West Rotary in Guatemala City and some funding from Colombia Falls Rotary in Montana, plus a few schools in both Colombia Falls and Seattle who have joined the effort through read-a-thons and other fundraising efforts. This is not a solution to the water crisis in Guatemala, Central America, the United States or the world, but it’s a start.
Full disclosure (LOL)…I might be biased towards helping out Guatemala. I ran a house for special needs Guatemalan refugee children in Campeche, Mexico for a year. Many of those children (deaf, blind and other disabilities) became carpenters, seamstresses and other contributing members of society when they returned to Guatemala after a 30 year civil war under the newly written peace accords in 1994-96.
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