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The Rotary Club
of Tulsa, through its International Projects Committee, located
an old truck-mounted water well rig, found a volunteer driller and
acquired the rig. We also purchased drilling and water production
supplies and bought a 45 foot cargo trailer to Fortunately, Dr. Julio Cuadra, one of the members of the RC of Tulsa, a native of Masaya, Nicaragua, made contact with a childhood friend who was reorganizing the Rotary Club of Masaya. Through efforts of Rotarian Julio, we were able to form apartnership with the Rotary Club of Masaya and obtain a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant. The project was underway! In the early months of 2003, Scroggs and Micky Moore, the well driller from Bristow, went to Nicaragua for six weeks. Moore, not then a Rotarian, volunteered his time and talents to help with the project, promising to dedicate six weeks each year for at least four years. The first year was a difficult one, a time of learning. Western Nicaragua's geography is dominated by a string of extinct and dormant volcanoes which, centuries ago, erupted and deposited thousands of feet of volcanic ash. This forms the sub-soil of the region. When we began to drill in the conventional way, with water as the medium to circulate the cuttings out of the hole, we found that the formations sucked up the drilling fluid as fast as we could have it hauled to us. In short, we only achieved one water well, but the barrio residents gladly received it. The next year, we obtained a high-volume diesel driven air compressor, and convertedthe rig to an air drill. With this conversion, nine good wells were drilled and put on production. Also this year, the gift of a pickup truck, a donation from Explorer Pipeline, provided much needed mobility and a means to pull our pipe trailer.
We drilled 26 good wells in 2006 and had drilled a total of 55 wells for the project to date. Today, we've drilled 200 sucessful wells across Nicaragua, providing potable water to thousands of people. But we have not done it alone. Many Rotary clubs in District #6110, and beyond, have contributed to this effort, including the Rotary Clubs of Bristow, Bixby, Springdale, Tulsa Sunrise, Claremore, Tulsa Will Rogers. Fort Smith, Sapulpa, Bentonville-Bella Vista, Daybreak Rotary of Bartlesville, and Joplin Daybreak Rotary. Clubs outside of District #6110 include Rotary Clubs of South Ukiah (CA), Ventura East (CA), Burrell (PA) Alexandria (LA), Richland City(WI), Forest Hills and Oakland Rotary Clubs (PA).
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It
began in 2002, although the idea had been around for several years,
since a former club member visited Nicaragua on a church mission
trip. Former Rotarian Bob Scroggs came back to the club with reports
of severe hardships caused by the lack of potable water among the
very poor in that country.
ship the supplies
to Nicaragua, on board a ship out of the Port of Gulfport, MS into
Puerto Cortes, Honduras, then overland to Managua, Nicaragua. The
trailer also contained medical supplies donated by Medical Supplies
Network, a District #6110 project. The medical supplies were destined
for a hospital in Masaya.
In 2005, we
hit our stride and completed nineteen good water producers, ranging
in depth from around 100 feet to over 300 feet. All of these wells
were capable of producing at least ten gallons of water per minute,
and were provided with electrical down-hole pumps, although electric
service was not yet available in some areas. A promise was given
that electricity would be forthcoming.