who I am. Many times, I find myself cheering up people when they feel like they did a bad job, or if they did poorly on a test. I always try to keep my chin high and help other keep theirs up, too.”
We intend to have large communal filters at schools and medical clinics so that, even if we buy two or three filters, we can affect a whole community without having to install one in every household.”
A Powerful Idea
Unafraid of a Challenge
One summer when Martin worked for a solar power company, he got the idea to try to help a poor Panama school by providing them with solar power, but his research proved that the project would be too complicated and expensive. “Because of the sheer size of a project like that, a simple student like me couldn’t handle it, but the school took the idea and actually hired people to expand the idea I started,” Martin says. “So, I decided to help out with the next best thing, a more attainable goal — the distribution of water filtration devices for communities without clean water, because of their relative simplicity and necessity here in Panama.”
Martin has always had a passion for rock climbing, which is one of the reasons he wanted to attend Falling Creek Camp each summer. “I always tried to go on every rock climbing trip the camp offered, so I have been to a lot of places near camp and even some pretty far, like the Red River Gorge in Kentucky,” Martin says. “I did not do the Warrior progression program at camp, because many years I thought that said year would be my last, so I wish I had not thought starting the progression would have been pointless. But it was always the climbing I was really passionate about.”
Band of Brothers Martin’s group, “Off-Grid Living,” is comprised of five close friends who have a passion for helping others. Besides Martin, one boy is from Italy, one from South Korea, and two from France. “Because I go to an international school, seeing groups like this isn’t too odd,” he says. “Up until now, we have focused mainly on acquiring funds in order to place a large order of water filtration devices at once. We have collected over $1,000 from teachers and students, so progress is being made. We plan on ordering the filters this year.” The devices Martin and his group will use are called LifeStraw (lifestraw.com/follow-the-liters). They consume no energy when filtering water, which makes them ideal for villages with little or no power. Each filter includes a reservoir and spigots, costs approximately $300, plus shipping, and can supply clean water to many people. “The towns we are going to get the filters to are generally towns that have access to water, but often it is from dirty wells or streams,” Martin says. “The filter is actually simple; it uses layers of reusable filters that clean the water by squeezing it through smaller and smaller holes until the soot and bacteria are expelled from the water. What is great is that the filters are reusable, so there is no need to purchase new ones every month or so. “We want to distribute the filters ourselves so we can get so see the joy of the communities that receive them. We are planning on buying two or three of them.
Making the Trek Back to Camp Martin was born and raised in Panama, where his father recently left a job as a tech manager for a cable company to become a consultant for Deloitte. His mother volunteers setting up the recycling program for an environmental agency called ANCON. His brother Tomas is also a Falling Creek camper. Martin wanted to come back to Falling Creek as a Man of STEEL to “feel the camp spirit” again, and to be able to help other campers enjoy it as much as he did. So . . . is Martin Eleta like most 17-year-old boys? Perhaps not. But here’s to hoping that most of the boys coming out of Falling Creek are a lot like him.
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Above: Martin with his brother Tomas. Left: Martin receiving the “Cerebral Sloth” Award while a camper at 2015 Main Session.
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