Tenacity is Patience: Day Three in El Salvador

April 21, 2016

Some change may come overnight, but others take time. Yesterday, the Triumph team successfully reached water at 51 meters, giving the village of Santiago Nonualco their first taste of clean water. Yet, there was still much more to do. Yesterday, the team knew they had to finish building the well and educate the children on oral hygiene and nutrition, a crucial lesson to their own health.

In the morning, the children were taught lessons on how to brush and floss their teeth. Then, our Triumph teachers had a fun activity for the kids on nutrition. In the activity, each child had their own plate with fake fruits, vegetables, proteins, and grains, and they were instructed to color each plate section according to how much of each food group they needed to eat in a day. All the kids (and teachers) loved it!

Two boys practice proper technique for brushing their teeth.
Jan in charge of puppeteering for the skit.
School children participating in a skit.
Linley posing with school girls after the morning lesson.
Everyone focused on making their nutrition plates.
Showing off his plate from the nutrition activity.

As the afternoon set in, the children, along with Jacob and Allison, participated in a boys versus girls soccer game, while the drill team finished pouring the concrete for the well base.

Jacob participates in a boys versus girls soccer game.
Christine and Elaine demonstrate how to brush your teeth in the afternoon class.
Afternoon students working on their nutrition plate.
Carrie getting ready to pass out 76 hygiene bags (1 toothbrush, 1 tube of toothpaste, 1 bar of soap), all donated by Triumph team members.
Getting to know some of the villagers.

After a long tiring day, the team was able to complete filling the concrete and finished placing the plaque on the well base, an important milestone in this project.

Pouring concrete into the frame to secure the water pipe.
Putting finishing touches to the freshly poured concrete.
Well plaque to place in the well’s foundation.

It was an eventful and productive day for the Triumph team members, filled with education, hard work and fun. Today, the finishing touches will be added to the well, and the team will participate in a celebration with the students and families of the community.