COUNTY WIDE TH U RS DA Y , JULY 2 1 , 20 16
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HELPING IN HONDURAS
Montgomery official helps build rural water system By JOHN ETHEREDGE
jetheredge@shawmedia.com This past spring, Montgomery Village President Matt Brolley spent a week in Honduras along with other members of the Chicago chapter of Engineers Without Borders helping to construct a public water system in a poor, but growing village. Brolley said he returned from the trip with a newfound appreciation for both clean drinking water and government that works. “I started to realize over the past several years – especially in my role with the village – that water is probably the most fundamental public service that we can provide,” he said. “Water is required for life, but here I think we sometimes take it for granted. We have millions of dollars in [water system] infrastructure, but a lot of it is buried underground so it is kind of out of sight, out of mind.” In Honduras, Brolley said he participated in a project begun several years ago by the EWB to upgrade the water system in the village of Armenta. According to the EWB, residents are currently allowed to fill up inhome pillas (home water storage facilities) once a week. They then draw all water for drinking, preparing food, laundry, bathing, sanitation, etc., from that single home storage source throughout the week. During his week in Honduras, Brolley, who works professionally as an engineer for V3 Engineering in Woodridge, provided technical assistance and helped in the construction of a new water tank at the top of a hill overlooking the village. Brolley said he was especially interested in making the trip because it involved “more than just going into a impoverished village and slappin’ up paint.”
See HONDURAS, page 6
Photo provided
Montgomery Village President Matt Brolley (left) scoops concrete out of a wheelbarrow at the construction site of a water storage tank in Armenta, Honduras. Brolley traveled to Honduras with other members of the Chicago chapter of Engineers Without Borders to construct a public water system.