Deerfield Beach, Florida – July 1, 2012. Guillermo Guzman, Founder of Wishing Well International Foundation, had a chance to spend time with management of the Good Samaritan Hospital, the nonprofit organization in charge of the Hydraid Biosand filters distribution center in the Dominican Republic. Guzman, who was visiting the Batey of San Jose Ulloa in late June, was able to visit with residents who had nothing but praise for the hospital and the individuals running the distribution center.

The village was selected as the foundation’s first project in the Dominican Republic and was purposely selected close to the US in order to make it easier for the sponsors to visit and become involved with the activities of the Foundation. The village of San Jose Ulloa is located about 30 miles southeast of San Pedro De Marcoris. Its exact location is 18° 36’ 55” N and 69° 25’ 10” W. There are 200 homes in this Batey, with a total population of about 1,000 people. The Batey was established almost 200 years ago and the very poor residents of San Jose Ulloa have only the sugar cane industry to rely on for a sparse number of jobs.

“We wanted our sponsors to be able to visit, touch and feel so they can experience first hand the impact they have in these developing areas,” said Guzman. “We will organize mission trips, where sponsors can be hands-on and work along side other volunteers and the rest of the community. Think tanks will be started and committees formed to gain input from industry members on developing dealer and vendor involvement programs for the industry.” Guzman’s vision has always been to bring the entire industry together to support the efforts of the Foundation.

“The distribution center is well stocked and ready to deliver, install and monitor Biosand filters in approximately 50 Batey locations in the Southeast region of the island nation. They are well staffed, experienced and able to impact thousands of families. We are prepared to continue working with them to make sure that impact is accelerated”, added Guzman.

The distribution center is funded by several US corporations in partnership with the Safe Water Team (SWT), the non-profit organization working closely with WWIF. SWT has distribution centers in Kenya, Ghana, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Honduras.

“We invite the entire water treatment industry community and the Water Quality Association (WQA) to join us in this effort. The industry must lead so we can have others follow,” stated Guzman.

One Hydraid Biosand filter costs approximately $100 (USD) and provides water for a family of four for a period of 8 to 10 years. To donate a filter via the WWIF website, visit Donate a Filter or to donate a filter using PayPal, go to PayPal