Y'Apy Reservation High School

Well No. 24

Y'Apy Indian Reservation High School

Sponsor - Holston, Tennessee Conference of the

United Methodist Church

The indigenous peoples of Paraguay are the Guarani - a very broad, diverse people group that covered much of southern South America before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500's. In Paraguay there are many "reservations" that have been set aside by the government for the various Guarani tribal groups. In the area where we work is located a group of Avá Guarani at the Santa Isabel Reservation. There is a Methodist Church located at the Y'Apy community which is the site of our Well 10. The government of Paraguay recently installed a very nice paved highway through the area which required the taking of a portion of the reservation property. In return for the donation of the property the government built a high school and health clinic. Although a "hand dug" well was installed with a small pump and tank at the time of construction, it is no longer operational due to thieves and vandals.

Pastor Agustin in front of the High School

Typical house on the reservation

The Pastor at the Methodist Church in the community of Y'Apy, Agustin Vera, asked us to install a well at the facility to provide water for the people in the area, many of who previously had to obtain their water from a nearby polluted stream. We agreed and decided it best to install a hand pump rather than an electric submersible pump to avoid a repeat of the previous problems of thievery. Also, the hand pumps require very little maintenance and no electricity.

Typical reservation family kitchen.

We carried the water from drilling from Yrybucua Creek

The families in the area live in very humble homes - most of which are made of all natural materials. Life for these folks is indeed difficult and we are always blessed to have the opportunity to assist in any way that we can.

We like to put a scriptural reference on the concrete pad - in this case John 4:14

The guys helping to clean out the muddy water from the well after installation

The well was installed in record time, however, our air compressor developed a problem and would not lift the water to clean the well. So we installed the hand pump and used it to remove the dirty water from drilling. The well was dosed with a strong chlorine solution and is already in use. Once more we give God the Glory!

For those who want to read about the technical details of the well, click here.