Day 8 - Luyano Water Filter
Day 7 (Friday, our last day in Cuba)
Today our group decided get breakfast at a small cafe across the street from the hotel - La Maracuya - the Passion Fruit. It was a nice cafe, with a fenced in
yard and trellis covered with passion vine. After we ate we traveled to Luyano, the poorest region of Havana. We went to a church that went through
several
transformations and is now the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection. There was a large gathering of people waiting for us to arrive. We sat in a circle and
introduced ourselves. The church has programs including craft/sewing/knitting, a dance class, exercise yoga classes and is the center of the community.
They did not have clean drinking water. Our group participated in a demonstration exercise yoga class. Then Rick made arrangements to go back to the
hotel to get a water filter system he had brought with him and return to install it later in the day.
We left the church and headed up a hill 15 miles outside Havana to Finca Vigia, the Hemingway house. The house was built in 1886 and Ernest
Hemingway
lived in it from 1939 to 1960, where he wrote many of his novels (Old Man and the Sea, For Whom the Bell Tolls). In 2007 the house was reopened as a
museum. It contains Hemingway's books, typewriter, clothes, hunting trophies, his boat from Key West (The Pinar), pictures of many celebrity guests, pet
cemetery, and even his drinking water tower and well.
Upon leaving the museum, Rick encountered two boys selling postcards from a shop/house across the street. The house sits on top of a hill in a small
village overlooking Havana to the West. A man in the town was the source of the character in Old Man and the Sea. Rick spoke with the shop keeper and
explained how Key West, Hemingway's other home, is also a museum. In Key West they have preserved - and market - the Hemingway experience. They
even have a Hemingway festival. Rick wanted to help their business and help the entire village, so he suggested they create a Hemingway trail through the
village, highlighting homes and spots where Hemingway spent time, where his house keeper lived, where he sat and told stories, where celebrities slept,
etc. We can't wait to return in a year to see what changes happen in the village.
Water Project - City Water Plant and New Filter System
The group returned to the hotel, grabbed a few backpacks and then got back on the bus to head downtown and do some last minute shopping. Rick and
Carlos headed back to Luyano. Along the way they stopped at the city water plant. Rick had a chance to talk with two men filling a water truck. They
spoke about pipes, aqueducts, and water purification. Water is brought down from the mountains in a 24inch pipe to a holding pond. The water is
chlorinated and pumped to a distribution system for the surrounding city. The pipes leak just like the ones in most of the USA, but they also loose
pressure often, which allows contaminates to enter the pipe. We are familiar with boil water orders when our systems loose pressure. In Cuba, there is
always a boil water order. I was not allowed to take pictures but we had a great conversation and at the end we exchanged shirts. I traded my hawaiian
shirt for a Agua de la Habana shirt.
Carlos and Rick headed to Luyano to install a new water filter system. It was a small SAWYER International Zero Two, bucket system. Rev. Ivan Gonzalez
Tasse was waiting. The church has a faucet in the courtyard but it is not filtered and no one drinks the water. Rick drilled a bucket, installed a 0.02 micron
filter, filled the bucket from the faucet and placed the bucket on a shelf. After a few minutes gravity drew the water down, soaked the filter and water
started flowing. Rick caught the first 3 glasses of water and drank them to the delight of Rev. Ivan. A few hours later Fr Ivan called to tell us everyone was
filling bottles from the filter. Using only gravity, the filter will work all night producing 5gallons per hour of pure water. The next day the church could have
50 gallons of water to give away. The filter can be reversed and cleaned when needed and will continue working for up to 1million liters. It's a small
temporary system but for the time being it will greatly improve the conditions in Luyano. We hope to return in May to install a permanent system.
Rick and Carlos where happy with the results, said goodbye to Rev. Ivan and headed back to the city. The group had put Carlos in charge of selecting the
location for the last group dinner. Rick and Carlos checked out 3 locations and selected a spot 3 blocks from the Hotel. A 3rd story rooftop cafe seemed
perfect. The restaurant put together tables and prepared for the group which would arrive at 7PM. On the same corner there is a park with a statue of
John Lennon. It's a popular spot to take pictures and across the street is a club called The Yellow Submarine. With reservations made they headed back
to the hotel to clean up and gather the group. Dinner was perfect. Everyone had delicious Cuban food, toasted completion of our work and shared stories
from the week. After dinner they went across the street to the club. It turned out the "typical Cuban music" turned out to be music of the day. This was a
club not too many tourists would be able to find. It was full of local young people dancing to music from a live band playing covers of Journey, Pink Floyd,
Led Zeplin and ZZ Top. It was fun watching the modern Cuban scene blend with American music. We enjoyed the scene and then, a few at a time,
members of the group peeled off and walked back to the hotel. Rick managed to test one more water sample. A women in the DJ booth, Rosa, had a
thermos of well water she brought from her home. She has been drinking the water for 20 years without illness but she was very concerned because her
neighbor had a septic tank issue and it was threatening her well. Rick tested the water and it all seemed fine and it was the only sample that had minerals
in the water. The next day the biological test was negative. It was getting late, the club was filling with the night crowd so the remaining members of the
group bid farewell and waked back to the hotel. Our last night in Havana was over. Back at the hotel everyone packed and prepared for a morning
departure for Miami. We collected items leftover, unused and things we could part with and gave them to Carlos and Yanelis as gifts. With scarcity of
items, people are sometimes more excited to receive gifts of difficult to find items, rather than cash. Soap, Shampoo, Tylenol, Chocolate, a baseball hat,
pens, notebooks, earbuds, small jewelry, etc.
DAY 7 PHOTOS