What began as a teenage jaunt away from home for two Miami teenagers has turned into a lifelong mission to build PVC/vinyl aqueducts in some of the most remote villages of the Dominican Republic.

Albert Perez and Alfred Consuegra were just 16 when they were part of a Jesuit mission to help build an aqueduct in a mountainous village of the Caribbean country.  The work was so gratifying and rewarding to them that when they got to college, they decided to start LIFO – Living Instruments for Others, dedicated to helping others less fortunate.
 
The most recent LIFO fundraiser in Miami on May 8th featured the showing of a new documentary film “The Water Project,” which followed the group’s 20th anniversary trip to the Dominican Republic to build an aqueduct for a community that has never had running water.  At $30 a person, proceeds from the fundraiser raised enough money to buy miles of PVC pipe and materials to build the group’s 25th aqueduct.

Both Consuegra and Perez work and live with their families in Miami, but organize trips each summer to the Dominican Republic, enlisting a couple of dozen volunteers for each trip, including engineers who test the water sources to ensure it is not contaminated.
 
Consuegra said about his volunteers, “They have no idea we can do so much with so little.  With picks, shovels, some PVC pipes – it’s an amazing thing.”
In 25 trips, LIFO has delivered clean water to more than 20 communities, towns in which Perez has identified villagers who will continue to improve living situations once the volunteers are gone. 

Before the PVC aqueducts were built, children lugged buckets of water from streams a mile away several times a day for their mothers to use in cooking and cleaning.  With clean water now flowing to their villages, the health of the villagers improves, and they focus on bettering their lives by building schools and demanding electricity.

According to its web site, Living Instruments for Others was founded in 1985 “to develop self-help projects in remote regions of the Dominican Republic” and “has focused on helping small villages in the interior of the country with three basic needs:  Clean Water, Education, and Healthcare.”

For more information on LIFO, go to www.lifomissions.org.

The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC/vinyl resin in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC/vinyl products to society. 

For more information on The Vinyl Institute, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
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The Vinyl Institute
(571) 970.3327
jpalmer@vinylinfo.org

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