In June of 2022, Water For Life Charity volunteer, Rachel Clark, had the opportunity to spend 7 weeks at the beautiful campus of Leadership Mission International, located in the rural mountains of Honduras. While Rachel was there on an internship, teaching about emotional wellness, she was able to bring with her 10 Water For Life Charity filter kits.

In this post, we tell the story about her visit, especially the people she met, taught, and aided, and how the water filters she gave to the residents changed their lives. 

The Leadership Center that Rachel taught at is located about an hour and a half from the city of Comayagua, past Zambrano. Despite it being in the rural mountains of Honduras, this center manages to have electricity and light, powered through solar panels.

They utilize a hydroponics system for fish and water spinach. They filter water from the river nearby for use on campus, and supplement it with a well and a spring that are located on their property.

Their students learn the importance of sustainability through participating in a variety of extracurricular projects while living on campus. 

From raising livestock to vegetable production, their campus work will teach them to be completely self-sufficient. While at this two year school, students have the opportunity to learn English, as well as take classes about leadership, business, community development, and agriculture.

Rachel traveled to Honduras on an internship to teach the students there about cultivating emotional wellness. She ran seminars and workshops on topics like confidence, comparison, and self love. She loved her time there so much, and she misses her friends after returning to the U.S.! 

While on this 7 week trip, Rachel was able to bring 10 of our water filter kits with her. She took the opportunity to give these filters to some of the people who didn’t have access to clean water in their homes, as well as teach them how to use the filter kits.

He has 2 kids, a pregnant wife, and a sister living in his humble home. They were getting their water from a river and we left them with a filter and taught them how to use it. They were amazed at how clear and fast the water came out, and grateful to those who had gotten this filter to them.

On the campus of Leadership Mission International, they have 3 workers employed from nearby communities to help with building projects. Each of them wanted a filter for their families. One of the workers, Don Miguel, lives in Zambrano with his wife. His son also lives nearby with his wife and two kids.

Rachel was able to teach all of them about the filters and pre-filters. Christian, another worker, was able to have Rachel, as well as Erika (a staff member at the campus) teach him and his wife how to use a filter while at his home in Los Valles.

Christian’s sister, who also lives in Los Valles, heard about the filters, and wanted one for her family. She has been able to use this filter to supply clean drinking water to the 7 people living in her home. These workers and their families now all have access to safe, clean drinking water, thanks to the efforts of Rachel!

Meanwhile, on campus, there are 4 chefs who live in a house outside of campus, a bit down the dirt road from the center. Due to their home not having access to clean water, they had to walk every day to campus just to get water to drink. They were so grateful when they were given a filter kit and taught how to use it.

Off campus, roughly a 1.5 hour walk away, there is a small community called Mescales, which is only accessible via walking, horse, or motorcycle. It consists of 4 families, none of whom had access to potable water. Rachel, as well as 3 other staff members, were able to hike to Mescales with buckets and 4 water filters for each of the families.

One mother told them about her son, who had had water borne parasites for many years. She had been wanting a filter for a long time, and was so grateful to finally get one for her and her family. 

The 10 filters that Rachel brought with her on her trip were placed with amazing families, who were, and are, thrilled to have clean water in their homes. Water filtration is a major problem in Honduras, and we here at Water For Life Charity, hope to have future opportunities to help get filters into communities in need. Thank you to Rachel for doing your part to help some of these communities!