Cantón Chucám belongs to the municipality of Chichicastenango. We have friends and trusted contacts who live there. They need clean water to drink.

Accessing the Needs

José Salvador Calel leads the committee. As president, he is responsible for guiding the project that will provide 550 families with potable water. Under the direction of a local civil engineer, they have estimated costs of over a half million US dollars to complete the project. The distance covered by the project is 18,400 meters (about 11.5 miles) and with sufficient funding would take roughly 18 months to complete.

Here are some photos to give you an idea… manual labor… on slanted terrain… with non-powered tools.

Unfortunately, with another (smaller) potable water project on our plate, we are not equipped to provide considerable help in the immediate future. Still, we want to help!

So, when we were asked if we could make an initial donation to kick off Phase 1, we obliged. A small gift of Q5000 (less than $700) was donated to the Chucám water project. We were told that it would be used to purchase a few quintals of the cement needed for the first water catchment box.

It is such an insignificant gift in the grand scheme of things, but the committee appreciates it and gives them hope for future support. As a token of their appreciation, the committee hosted a dinner for us during our visit. We had the ability to learn more about the project and the people involved.

On the patio of José Salvador’s home, we enjoyed a new fruit, some cornbread, and atole de masa, a hot corn drink that was served to us in intricate wooden cups with a round bottom. We sampled these traditional favorites while listening to a fantastic music ensemble.

I love marimba bands, and this one had both traditional and marimba de tecomates along with a percussion stand including turtle shells and a large rainstick. They performed several songs for us — before during and after dinner.

For dinner, we were honored to receive traditional Guatemalan Christmas Tamales. I am happy to share the recipe for those that might want to try it. They are very yummy! To think of the long hours they took to prepare, we are very fortunate to have friends with the desire to make them!

The favorite part of the evening, at least to fellow Board member, Mike Margolies, was when José Salvador’s beautiful wife asked him to dance. In his words:

This beautiful woman asked ME to dance. Do you think I was going to say no? I felt awkward at first, but never embarrassed, because I could see on her face, as well as those watching, that they appreciated my attempt to participate in their culture. I lost my balance a couple of times in the beginning, but eventually felt enough in the rhythm to turn around, which drew “ahhhs,” and applause from the onlookers. The song went on much longer than I anticipated, and it was definitely a challenge to my cardio system, but I proudly, and exhaustedly, made it to the end. Yeah, a beautiful woman who I had never met before, other than my wife, asked ME to dance and thanked me when it was over. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Michael Margolies

I was then honored with José Salvador also asked me. It was a pleasure to celebrate the first phase of the potable water project in Chucám.