Fire for water: Montana students complete service trip in Guatemala

Students from across Montana helped install two water filtration systems in Guatemala over spring break in March, helping to provide clean water while also having a revelatory learning experience themselves.  

Altogether, eleven students connected for the first time to complete the service trip. 

They divided into two crews; from the west were Allison Ponti, Gavin Sibson and Amelia Krezowski from Whitefish High School, Gigi Gubits from Glacier, Mason Colliander from Columbia Falls, and Whitefish alum, Hazel Gawe. On the east crew was three from Great Falls and two from Big Sandy.  

“When you go with kids that have that same place of service, they connect well,” said Katy Krezowski, a Whitefish parent who chaperoned the trip.  

It’s the second trip involving students that has been sponsored by Western Montana Rotary Club International Coalition. Clean water initiatives is an ongoing cause that Whitefish and Columbia Falls Rotary Clubs have supported in the last decade.  

The Rotary Club partners with a local organization, Los Buenos Vecinos, The Good Neighbors, in Guatemala, to ensure the volunteers have a productive service trip.  

The students helped put in the first two of 22 new water filtration systems planned. The two systems are supposed to be good for about 20 years, assuming appropriate water flow. 

“It’s called bio-sand; they use gravel and silica to make the filter. It’s fairly simple but was very cool to learn about,” Katy Krezowski said.  

When paired with proper washing protocols, the systems will help the overall health and wellbeing of the locals, they said.  

To help install them, they first began each day with breakfast and a bus ride up a ravine.  

“It wasn’t too far – you could see it, but there just were any roads through the valley to get there,” Whitefish junior Amelia Krezowski recalled. “Each day was different. We helped build the filter, fill sand, and a couple of days we helped with wash and sanitation hygiene,” she said.  

One of the filters was for an elementary school with about 500 kids, and one was at a middle school with about 75 kids.  

Much time was spent with the kids, Amelia Krezowski said.  

She said they learned a “wash song,” played soccer and painted a “never-ending” wall.  

She said she learned about the opportunity for the trip in her Spanish class, thanks to recruitment from Dave Renfrow, a Columbia Falls man who is a U.S. director for Los Buenos Vecinos.  

Amelia Krezowski said communicating with the kids was the highlight of her experience.  

“They were fascinated by everything, even our hair,” she said. “They would come up and just talk so confidently, some so fast and quietly. It was fun. 

“They were just so excited to listen, learn and talk.”  

Whitefish High School junior Gavin Sibson, who is in French 3 rather than Spanish, learned about the opportunity through his environmental science class and the Freeflow club, an ecology-based club.  

While Sibson may not speak Spanish, he said he did get to use his soccer skills against kids of all levels.  

Sibson said that the pollution in Guatemala was notable to him.  

“That’s the main reason we’re there, so that the water is safe to drink so that they can improve as a community and country,” he said. “So that was on my mind the entire time I was there.”  

The amount of trash was also concerning for sanitation, he said.  

The air quality was different, especially in the more populated valleys, he said.  

“You didn’t notice until you went into the mountains, and you could just look over and see a layer of smog, mist.” 

Everything was natural, Amelia Krezowski said.  

“The roads were just through ravines, up hills. They don’t beat up the ground or take out plants,” she said.  

Katy Krezowski said it was eye-opening to see how “dignified a culture” they are. “They have the essentials, and they’re happy, so welcoming to us.”  

The students put a cap on the trip by completing a four-mile backpacking hike with about 6,000 feet of vertical gain to summit the Acatenango volcano at 13,000 feet.  

The trail was not too technical and was more just dust and dirt straight up, Sibson said.  

They spent the night at about 12,000 feet and managed to enjoy the sunrise on the volcano despite some elevation sickness. 

More so than the hike or any task, Sibson said seeing poverty will stick with him. 

“Seeing kids with black, crooked teeth, and not always proper hygiene, that was the hardest part,” he said. 

Both Sibson and the Krezowskis said they would highly encourage students to take part in similar trips.