August 23, 2004: Headlines: COS - Pakistan: COS - Bangladesh: COS - Honduras: Water: Potable Water: The Charleston Gazette: Fred Stottlemyer's experience with creating regional water and sewer systems like those in Putnam County, and the time he spent in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Peace Corps helped him come up with a simple, cheap design for potable water

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Pakistan: Peace Corps Pakistan : The Peace Corps in Pakistan: August 23, 2004: Headlines: COS - Pakistan: COS - Bangladesh: COS - Honduras: Water: Potable Water: The Charleston Gazette: Fred Stottlemyer's experience with creating regional water and sewer systems like those in Putnam County, and the time he spent in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Peace Corps helped him come up with a simple, cheap design for potable water

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-239-147.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.239.147) on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 5:03 pm: Edit Post

Fred Stottlemyer's experience with creating regional water and sewer systems like those in Putnam County, and the time he spent in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Peace Corps helped him come up with a simple, cheap design for potable water

Fred Stottlemyer's experience with creating regional water and sewer systems like those in Putnam County, and the time he spent in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Peace Corps helped him come up with a simple, cheap design for potable water

Fred Stottlemyer's experience with creating regional water and sewer systems like those in Putnam County, and the time he spent in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Peace Corps helped him come up with a simple, cheap design for potable water

On a quest for clean water

By Chandra Broadwater
Staff writer

Caption: Fred Stottlemyer, former manager of the South Putnam Public Service District, recently retired to focus more on developing ways to get clean water to people in Honduras. Photographer: M.K. McFarland

He lay awake for hours, thinking about Maria Garcia in Honduras, seven months pregnant, hiking five times a day from her shack to get water for the family. One of her sons was dead, the other chronically sick from drinking dirty water.

The newspaper story about deplorable water conditions in Third World countries stuck in Fred Stottlemyer’s head.

The next day, Stottlemyer, manager at South Putnam Public Service District, conferred with engineers and came up with a simple, cheap design for potable water.
- advertisement-

Now the chlorinators he and other members of the International Rural Water Association make available to families like the Garcias are evidence of his quiet but strong belief that everyone can have clean water.

“It’s a way we can give back a little bit from our plenty to their little,” Stottlemyer said last week, before leaving for another trip to Honduras on Sunday.

“You can’t live on drinking water like that,” he said. “Adults, maybe. But those little kids just don’t have a chance.”

After working for South Putnam PSD for 28 years, Stottlemyer retired three weeks ago to focus more intently on developing simple water systems in Central America.

His experience with creating regional water and sewer systems like those in Putnam County, and the time he spent in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Peace Corps, yield just the right amount of background for work in Honduras.

A Pennsylvania native, Stottlemyer also helped found the West Virginia Rural Water Association in the 1980s and is a member of the national group.

“Fred’s been a lightning rod for growth in the valley,” said Putnam County Commissioner Jim Caruthers. “When he came on board, there was a moratorium on development because the water and sewage systems weren’t large enough. He helped save the growth.”

But the efforts he’s made on the humanitarian side aren’t talked about enough, Caruthers said.

“When you talk to him on the subject, you don’t realize how most of the world lives,” Caruthers said. “Water is one of the most critical things but most poorly maintained.”

Because it rains so much in Honduras, drinking water outside of large cities is muddy. Villagers get their water from streams and rivers, and though they know it’s bad to drink, they are left with little choice.
- advertisement-
Take the PollingPoint Presidential Election Survey!

Once while trying to get an idea of what water in a village usually looked like, group members mixed mud into a water sample on a day that didn’t see much rain.

“The women kept saying, ‘Mas, mas [more, more].’ It was amazing that they drank that,” Stottlemyer said. “Then we set up a small container and treated the water. Their eyes got huge when the mud fell out of it.”

With intentions to take the water program outside Honduran borders, the main goal of the international water group now is to train local people and to organize water boards among communities, Stottlemyer said. Unlike those in the United States, there are no local governments to take charge and make clean water a priority.

Lots of times, foreign groups come in and do a project, leave and communities never see them again, Stottlemyer said.

“It’s important to give them control and to help them realize that there is consistency,” he said. “It’s working.”

On visits back to villages with chlorinators, people often say they don’t like the taste of the water, Stottlemyer said. But then say that babies aren’t dying anymore.

While in Honduras this time, or maybe another, Stottlemyer said he hopes to find Maria Garcia. He wants to make sure her family has clean water.

“It gives you a lot of inspiration,” he said, “to just keep plugging away at it.”

To contact staff writer Chandra Broadwater, use e-mail or call 348-5194.





When this story was prepared, here was the front page of PCOL magazine:

This Month's Issue: August 2004 This Month's Issue: August 2004
Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and who can come up with the funniest caption for our Current Events Funny?

Exclusive: Director Vasquez speaks out in an op-ed published exclusively on the web by Peace Corps Online saying the Dayton Daily News' portrayal of Peace Corps "doesn't jibe with facts."

In other news, the NPCA makes the case for improving governance and explains the challenges facing the organization, RPCV Bob Shaconis says Peace Corps has been a "sacred cow", RPCV Shaun McNally picks up support for his Aug 10 primary and has a plan to win in Connecticut, and the movie "Open Water" based on the negligent deaths of two RPCVs in Australia opens August 6. Op-ed's by RPCVs: Cops of the World is not a good goal and Peace Corps must emphasize community development.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: The Charleston Gazette

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Pakistan; COS - Bangladesh; COS - Honduras; Water; Potable Water

PCOL13584
45

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: