19 JUNE 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® by Tim Rasmussen, President and Chairman, Water for Life Setzimaj is a small village in North Central Guatemala. There are about 200 people who live there in around 65 houses. The village is roughly nine miles from the town of Fray; the road from Fray being very tricky with deep holes and large rocks that must be carefully negotiated. The Water for Life team received an urgent call for water when the previous source, an old spring, had dried up. There was very little time for planning. Henry went there with some people from the Fray municipality to see where the well could be located. Most of the people of the community speak Q’eqchi’, but a few speak Spanish. They are suspicious of outsiders, and really wanted the well in a particular place. The rotary rig was on the job for just a day or so when they ran into a layer of very slippery mud. The first workers on the job did not know how to handle the muddy conditions and so moved the rig to another location not far away. The drilling was better for a little while until they entered the same mud zone. They decided the best thing to do was to pull off the site until the ground dried up some. When the villagers saw the crew preparing to leave, they did not understand and refused to let the rig be moved. The tone of the villagers and the situation became more and more hostile. The workers were very frightened and did not know what to do. They did not want to leave the rig, but they could not take it with them. The workers called Henry and since he speaks Q’eqchi’, he was able to communicate with the village leaders and calm the situation a little. He promised to arrive in a day and have a meeting with all of them. The next day, the workers nervously called Henry every few minutes until he arrived. Henry said when he got there and saw all the people and noticed the tone of the situation, he also felt scared for a few minutes, but he asked God to help him, then gathered all the people together. He explained that Water for Life was a charity and we believed in God and were not there to steal anything or lie to them. The leaders were concerned the rig was going to leave and not return. The villagers had contributed some money for fuel for the rig and Henry reassured them he would refund the money they had paid for the fuel - and Henry also assured them we would come back when the conditions were more favorable and finish the well. When the villagers finally understood they would not lose anything and that the drill crew would be back when the conditions improved, they apologized for holding the rig hostage and told Henry he could take the machine without any trouble. When they said that, Henry accepted the opportunity to leave. He told the workers to load up and they drove the truck out of there to a safe place. When he left, he went to the municipal offices in Fray and told them what had happened and that we would be back when things dried out a little. They were very happy to understand that Water for Life would return in the dry season. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-939-1941. Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com WTR
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