$500 pays for the purchase and installation of a water tank in a school in rural Guatemala.  The work is done by the community members, who take delivery of the fabricated tank, construct an elevated stand, and install the necessary piping and faucets.  The project is rounded out by a construction of a concrete pad and a drain for water runoff.

Many of the rural schools do not have an adequate water supply.  Some schools have no water at all.  Others have water only a few hours a day, sometimes at very low pressure, often at night.

A typical school may have 65 students attending.  Each child is forced to walk to school, sometimes from miles away, carrying a 2-liter plastic bottle of water, along with books and school gear.  Sometimes water is brought from home, and often it is collected from a stream or public faucet along the way. 

Many times the school is a one-room schoolhouse, with a dormitory for the teacher attached.  The worry over water greatly distracts the teaching process.

The water is used at the school for drinking, cooking mid-morning snacks, cooking lunch, flushing the toilets, and cleaning and mopping the schoolroom, dormitory, and patio.

This project is accompished quickly, with immediate tangible and visible results in the improvement of the health of the students and the environment for teaching.  It is replicated easily, and can be a precursor for further development, such as a rainwater catchment system.

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@twitanthropy twitpay $5.00 for water tank