Belmont Alumna Brooke Small is Making an Impact with Water 4 Life in Guatemala
While studying in Belmont’s communication studies program, 2018 alumna Brooke Small discovered a passion for missions and volunteer services. A study abroad trip during her junior year confirmed her desire to live and work abroad, serving communities in need.
Upon graduating, Small taught English to refugee children at the Nations Ministry Center in Nashville where she served as a volunteer with AmeriCorps and later worked as a staff member.
Today, the rural Pennsylvania native is a Marketing and Donor Relations Coordinator at Water 4 Life Global, a nonprofit that works to improve the quality of life for communities through clean water initiatives in Guatemala.
Water 4 Life Global leads an initiative focused on the communities surrounding Lake Atitlan, a precious natural resource in Guatemala facing severe pollution threats. Although Guatemala has an abundance of water from streams and lakes, only 61% of the water supply comes from a safely managed source, according to USAID (United States Agency for International Development).
“In addition to water filtration, we have been actively involved in constructing greywater treatment systems,” Small said. “These systems will play a pivotal role in preventing pollution of Lake Atitlan, an ecologically critical lake currently threatened by pollution.”
Water 4 Life distributes Ripple Kits that are funded by a donor network. The kits include one home water filtration system that can clean 500,000 gallons of water, a natural sanitation product like soap or detergent, a water education demonstration and the planting of a native tree in communities living in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
“Water quality has been a passion of mine since my Belmont days,” Small said. “It started as concern over the quality of my own drinking water in the States and as I began to travel the world after graduation I experienced illness myself from the water I was exposed to which largely influenced my desire to settle down in Guatemala and contribute to solving the water issues here as I believe the water quality in this country to be some of the worst I’ve ever encountered.”
For isolated Guatemalan families, access to clean water is the start to a better life and a stepping-stone to development. When water-related diseases no longer pose a threat to a family’s health, the members can pursue opportunities like attending school and work without fighting sickness.
“This initiative has had a profound impact on the health and well-being of residents who once endured significant water-related health challenges,” Small said. “All of our work is done in collaboration with the local community with a heavy emphasis on empowering local women to step into leadership and take the reins during our water filter delivery days.”
Water4Life Global has distributed over 1,000 water filters to families in Guatemala, giving them access to clean water. At Water 4 Life, Small continues to live out the dream she realized as a Belmont student to make a positive impact on the world – one drop at a time.