Germany Trip 2012

In our latest Aguayuda presentation, which we presented 9 times in Germany recently I realize I (Simón) made one mistake. In the presentation, I mentioned that Colombia became my second home when I found my biological family in 2005 but actually I always had two countries before 2005 that I could call home: USA and Germany. Having been raised by German parents and visiting Germany almost every year to see my relatives; Germany has played an important role in my life. Besides my German relatives, the language, culture and traditions have had a strong influence of who I am. The fact that my wife (Sabrina) is German makes Germany even more special. Being in Germany again for a few weeks was a great time because it allowed us to share our excellent progress with Aguayuda and also reconnect with family and friends as well as meet new people.

Thank you German Club, family and friends in Germany for believing in us and supporting our mission. Your generous support and kindness makes us already looking forward to our next trip back to Germany next year.

Best regards,

Networking for Good - Aguayuda Event

We had our first event with Networking for Good at Paolo’s Ristorante in Reston, Virginia on the 21st of February. It was a wonderful success. 122 people came to the networking event, which provided Aguayuda with a great platform to share our mission with a new audience. We met many fascinating people who are interested in supporting us in many areas including fundraising and graphic design. Thanks to Networking for Good’s unique networking events, this evening provided the attendees with an opportunity to meet new people while supporting a worthy charity. The event was a big success because Networking for Good organized everything including generous sponsors, a suitable venue, delicious food, free massages, prizes, and a sound system. Through their publicity via social media channels and supporters the event was well visited by professionals with interest in philanthropy. Thank you Networking for Good for a super networking event!

Colombia Trip 2012

Our latest trip to Colombia may have been one of the most important trips for Aguayuda. We have set the foundation to assure that the 12 communities (over 4,000 people) we are helping through clean water will be sustainable for many years by having 3 new Colombian members (Daut, Victor and Franklin) join our Aguayuda team. These new members provide a permanent base in La Guajira, Colombia where the majority of our projects are located. They have the essential job of monitoring our current projects, evaluating new communities and creating alliances with local foundations, companies and government entities.

We also have 3 Colombian interns (Verónica, Maria Paula and Natalia) support our mission. They are helping us in many areas including conducting community surveys, testing and evaluating various household water solutions, and completing the water storage tank project in Orrokot as well as the constructed wetland project in Ramonero. Their energy, passion and high quality results are a huge help for Aguayuda.

Aguayuda is a small non-profit organization and it is an amazing feeling to see Aguayuda organically grow in a way that will allow us to help many more communities in the future as well as continue to support the current communities.

To view our latest photos from the Colombia trip, please click here.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:

Hello everyone,

We leave for our trip to Colombia on the 20th of January. For the first time, we will share our experiences of the trip on a daily basis through Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to visit these sites to learn more about our trip and what we are doing. We are very excited to be able to revisit our past projects and to implement a new project in Orrokot, Colombia.

We hope everyone is having a great start to the new year!

Best regards,

Thank you Sam Horn and Matt Rutlin:

Hello everyone,

One of the nicest experiences while establishing and growing Aguayuda is all the wonderful people we have met along the journey.

In late October we met Sam Horn, an internationally-respected communication strategist, and Matt Rutlin, a videographer from MattNova Productions.
Since then they have provided generous integral support to improving our latest Aguayuda presentation that we showed at the 5-year anniversary presentation on December 1, 2011.

On the 14th of January, we were invited by Sam Horn as guests to attend her “Want to Turn Your Passion and Purpose into a Paying Profession?” workshop. We even were given the opportunity to talk to 100 people about our passion - Aguayuda - and how it came about and what we do. It was a great event where we were able to meet many interesting and good people doing great things in many areas. During the event, we supported Matt Rutlin in filming the event and taking photos.

We are honored to have Matt film our next fundraising event on the 21st of February at Paolo's Ristorante in Reston, Virgina with the support of Networking for Good. Please register at: http://networkingforgood.com/events/february-2012-aguayuda/

Thank you Sam and Matt for providing us wonderful support to our mission to provide clean water and education to poor rural communities in developing countries.

Best regards,