OAXACA, Mexico. John Hesselink III experienced a highly successful trip building multiple purifiers and working with Habitat for Humanity. Click HERE to view the complete report with pictures.

A Fairmount Minerals subsidiary, Standard Sand Co., is located in Grand Haven Township.

Fairmount's partner in the project is the Aqua Clara Foundation, a nonprofit faith-based group that is focused on developing inexpensive systems to locally generate sustainable supplies of potable drinking water. The Aqua Clara water purification system cleans and disinfects polluted water that may come from rainfall, polluted ponds and unsanitary shallow wells without boiling to kill the pathogens. Fairmount and Aqua Clara developed the filters with the help of the engineering department of Hope College.

"In addition to providing clean water, our focus is on increasing industry in the region," Aqua Clara Director Bob McDonald said. "We want to teach local business people to make the purifiers and sell them to support their families. Once people experience the difference clean water makes and value its importance, we're confident they will buy these units to use in their homes."

Fairmount President Chuck Fowler said the program's first locally owned business involves the production and sale of family-sized filters and the installation of a large water filtration unit that serves a school complex in Kenya.

According to the World Health Organization and United Nation's Children's Fund, more than half of the world's population has access to safe drinking water for the first time in history, thanks in part to the use of sand filter technology that's actually more than a century old.

A leading producer of industrial sand, Fairmount employs more than 350 people at 18 mining and mineral processing plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

SOURCE: Grand Haven Tribune

CHARDON, Ohio. The third grade class of Mrs. Sobodosh at Munson Elementary School in Chardon, Ohio, interviewed Ms. Margaret Kimosop from Kenya over SKYPE in their classroom today. You can see Margaret on the screen in the front of the room. The children were excited about the event, and asked perceptive and interesting questions. Ms. Kimosop wore her Kenyan dress and elegant head piece to help set the stage, and gave a startling presentation on what it feels like to be a third grade student in Kenya. She talked about the fact that many of them eat corn gruel three times a day, and that a majority do not have snacks and pizza and hamburgers and cookies in Eldoret, and the students were amazed. Margaret talked about the strict discipline of the school, the politeness of the children, the way that they share their pencils and books with three or four students, and they make their own balls out of sticks and paper and string.

The students then asked questions about what the Kenyans do for fun, what the weather is like, and what holidays they celebrate. Margaret told the students that many of the Kenyan young men are breaking world records in running, and that this is because from the age of 4, when they start school, many of them have to walk or run for miles to get to school. She also mentioned that many children do not use busses to get to school and this surprised the students.

Sharon Van Zeeland made the arrangements for the interview because she has found the program of Aqua Clara compelling and wanted her son.s class room to share in the excitement. Sharon works for Fairmount Minerals, a partner and supporter of Aqua Clara. This class is now writing pen pal letters to the Talai Academy in Kenya, and is also sending some pencils, bracelets, disposable cameras and scrapbooks to the students. They hope that they will get letters back and that they can establish new friendships.

Margaret Kimosop is doing her doctorate in Public Administration at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

HOLLAND, Michigan. The students in the fourth grade at Lakewood Elementary have adopted the fourth grade class in the Potters House Academy in Eldoret, Kenya. When discussing life in Kenya, Ms. Jawahara asked the students to open their top desk drawer, and to count the pencils. Then she told them that the students at Potters House have to share a pencil, one pencil to about three people, and that a child in Kenya would love to have their own pencil.

At that, the Lakewood students began to collect pencils and sharpeners to go along with the letters they wrote to the 250 children in Potters House. They collected over 5000 pencils which they bagged three to the zip lock bag, including a bracelet and pencil sharpeners, so that there would be a little gift bag for the students in Potters House as well as the students in the other four elementary schools near there. One of the children said that this is the best project they have ever had. The students along with teacher Ms. Jamila Jawahara are now waiting for letters back from Kenya . hoping for new friendships that cross the international boundaries and build inter cultural awareness. The Lakewood students hope that the Kenyan children will become their friends.

HOLLAND, Michigan. Aqua Clara launched its new Technology Center by hosting a two day workshop by teaching 21 people how to make water purifiers and start new locally owned businesses in developing countries. Led by John Hesselink III, they spent the entire second day in hands on experience in building the water purifiers at the Watermark Building on 136th Avenue in Holland (November 13 and 14).

John paired the people off in groups of two, and everyone got a chance to cut the pipes, drill the holes, handle the sand and stones plus the additions of other materials needed to transform the eleven big blue drums into water purifiers by the end of the day.

Of the twenty one people who attended, there were seven countries represented in need of clean disinfected water . Kenya, Uganda, Nicaragua, Philippines, Indonesia, the Sudan, and Sierra Leone. The participants in this workshop are now certified to teach and transfer the technology of this water purification so as to start locally owned, profitable businesses in the developing countries. These Point of Use water purifiers are especially designed to be inexpensive, have no moving parts, require no electricity, will be manufactured by local craftsmen using local materials, and will daily clean and disinfect fecal contaminated water for a family of five. The process was developed by Executive Director of Aqua Clara, Dr. Bob McDonald (www.aquaclarafound.org)

Aqua Clara is working with Jim Tuinstra of Partners Worldwide to help with the water crisis in Nicaragua and is joining with Partners Worldwide to meet specific needs and programs in many of the 32 countries that Partners Worldwide serves.

The Aqua Clara Mission Franchise enables groups interested in joining this endeavor to learn the technology of the water purifier and establish Transfer Agents needed to bring this technology to the remote villages. Part of this franchise also includes the Health and Hygiene Instruction materials that accompany the use of water purifiers, and Business Development materials to help establish a legal business. The Technology Center will also be virtual in that it will be able to assist business owners with questions and problem- solving on line, will provide illustrations and training manuals on line, and will have continual real time help and coaching through discussion boards and email. qua Clara is working with Jim Tuinstra of Partners Worldwide to help with the water crisis in Nicaragua and is joining with Partners Worldwide to meet specific needs and programs in many of the 32 countries that Partners Worldwide serves.

Six young people of the Venturing Crew from Without Walls Vineyard church . Tim Schwartz, Ben Caldwell, Justin Campbell, Denae Caldwell, Jessica Naylor-Tatterson and Chelsea Parr, under the leadership of Venturing Crew Advisor Dave Caldwell, plan to go back to Indonesia during spring break to start new locally owned businesses of making water purifiers with the people they have served there. Tim Schwartz said he .was amazed at how easy the purifiers are to build and is very excited to start installing them and see them in action. in Indonesia. Without Walls Vineyard Church is the chartering organization for Venturing Crew 2316. Venturing is a youth-led program of Boy Scouts of America for young men and women ages 14-20.

Marilyn Newman, Executive Director of Special Ministries, attended with two members of her group . Bill Bowerman and Al Disselkoen -- who will go to the five Hope Centers in Kenya and Uganda in January and not only bring clean water to the hundreds of children that attend these centers, but also teach men and women how to start a business of making purifiers in their neighborhoods. In this picture Newman is making sure that Bowerman has the instructions right.

A special surprise for all of the attendees was to be able to see and drive the BUV from Innotec, manufactured in Zeeland. This very practical Basic Utility Vehicle has been engineered for reliable use and ease of repair and can handle the difficult roads of passage in less developed areas of the world. Aqua Clara is planning to purchase one to use as an ambulance in South America.

The Watermark Business, owned by Michael and Christine Gethin, and manager Daniel DeHaan, donate space to Aqua Clara because they too want to be a part of this program. M.W. Watermark, LLC is a world class supplier of new and surplus water and wastewater equipment, parts, upgrades, retrofits and rebuilds for the water and wastewater industry. Their equipment is used by industrial companies and municipalities around the world helping to reduce costs and to keep the earth's environment clean.

HOLLAND, Michigan. When fourth graders at West Ottawa.s Lakewood Elementary School learned about Kenyan children, and their need for clean water, they had .eager minds, generous hearts and loving spirits. said Marcia Buck, a Holland representative of Aqua Clara program. On November 7, Margaret Kimosop from Kenya addressed the group in her resplendent traditional Kenyan dress, while Bettie Visscher told the group of her experiences as a teacher in one of the schools in Kenya. Earlier, with their teachers Jamila Jawahir, Ken Arthurs and Amy VanAllsburg, the children of Lakewood had learned of the needs for clean water of the children in five elementary schools around Eldoret, Kenya and elected to contribute some of their limited funds to help these Kenyan children.

Bettie Visscher of Holland told the fascinated children that the Kenya children would walk to school, sometimes an hour away, and that they would sit for four hours straight without a break, sometimes with little brothers and sisters on their lap (also well behaved), for morning classes and then again in the afternoon. For breakfast, they would have a cup of tea, for lunch they had corn gruel (like cream of wheat in texture) and the same for dinner, but maybe with a little goat meat. The children were incredulous and asked what snacks they would have, and if they had a cafeteria they could go to for other food, only to learn that that was the food every day.

Margaret, a doctoral student in Public Administration at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, talked to the children of the love of learning of Kenyan children. They want to learn English and know everything they can about the United States because that can get them a job. She told the students that the children of Kenya wear a uniform to school, and politeness is very important. Their lessons are at a table made of planks of wood in a large room where all the children are seated. When the teacher enters, the children will all rise and say: .Good Morning, Miss Kimosop., sit and begin lessons for the day.

The students of the fourth grade asked what kind of sports or games the children played, and Margaret said that they loved to play outside, just as the Lakewood students do. But there they would make balls out of paper and string and make up games to play, and recesses were few.

This month the students here are writing letters and short stories with pictures to the children in these schools. The principal of schools at Eldoret has promised that the Kenyan children will respond with letters back to Lakewood Elementary, a great way to foster cross cultural communication. However, we also learned that the children have a limited supply of paper and pencils to respond. So we set about to supply paper, pencils, erasers, & sharpeners, to be sent with the letters later this month. Mrs. Jawahir.s class has already collected 683 pencils. Collectively, it is the intention of all the children to establish longer term communications with each other. It has been heart warming to see each group of students want to reach out to each other. We are all at work to make that happen.

Last year the Lakewood Elementary School students collected $460.00 to help buy water purifiers for the children in each of the grades in five schools around Eldoret, Kenya. These water purifiers, as developed by Aqua Clara using age-old technologies, provide clean water from fecally polluted water at $0.0003 per liter. At that time we made the promise to the Lakewood children to establish a linkage between these groups of children so everyone could talk to everyone.....which is happening.

So at this meeting today, John Hesselink III ( who will expand the training of the Kenyan teams in producing these water purifiers) also shared some of his experiences with the children. He described the condition of the water from the local stream, where the children bathe and the wild animals defecate, as being the same water the children and their families have for drinking. Such water often makes the children chronically sick and sometimes die. He explained the new, locally made water purifiers provide clean water at a price their families can afford. John went on to describe the high interest of the Kenyan children in having clean water and sharing that with their families. In January he will also help in expanding the linkage between the schools and share with the Kenyan children the greetings from the children from the Lakewood Schools.

SOURCE: The Holland Sentinel