By Sheri Monk

When folks in the Southwest complain about a lack of water, it usually refers to a summer drought. And while a Canadian lack of moisture may mean a poor crop or hauling water for cattle, for others, it can be a life or death situation.
Which is why Agua Ministries was born.
“Pastor Casey Sitter was our pastor at Leader Victory Fellowship back in 2001 and he had gone to bible school in Texas and was associated with Church on a Rock and they started our Agua Resources and pioneered the well-drilling system and got the rig and so forth and then they basically called up here in 2001 and asked Casey if we were interested in going to Mexico to drill water wells,” said Tim Ehnisz, who will be taking his eight or ninth trip for the cause this year.
Eventually, the program became so popular in the Leader area – and in Canada – Agua Ministries Inc. was formed to complement the U.S. organization.
“In approximately 2004 we decided to make our own organization. We became a non-profit charitable organization,” Ehnisz said. “We ran all our funding through Agua Ministries because before that we were running it all through our local church and we wanted to stay a little more non-denominational focused and more humanitarian.”
Every year, Canadians fly to Mexico – mostly at their own expense – to drill water wells in an area about 100 km north of Acapulco, near the city of Atoyac de Álvarez. The terrain is rocky, with trees and hills similar to the Cypress Hills area.
While there, the groups drill as many wells as they can within one week and nearly 200 have been drilled since the formation of the first American organization in 1998.
“We’ve got people that have gone down quite a few times. Pastor Casey, he’s probably been down a dozen, 15 times. And there’s other fellas that have gone down three, four, five, six times – and couples too. A group of about eight is probably what you need. You need about four able men to make everything run smooth,” he said, adding the outer four are needed for integral tasks.
Ehnisz says while there is water in the region – reliable, clean fresh water is hard to find.
“There’s lots of John Wayne wells. If you watch the old westerns and they have this big circular rock or brick thing there, six or eight feet across. There’s lots of those wells – lots of them. But they’ve been open for years and they’re contaminated,” he explained.
Canadian citizens would note a stark contrast in how municipal water is delivered to the area Agua Ministries works in.
“The water supplies are very inconsistent. Their water supplies are these black water tanks that sit on the roof of the homes and literally the water runs Tuesday and Friday and then you fill your water tank. And then the water from the top of your roof runs into your house. And that isn’t drinking. Their drinking water, they’re on their own to get that,” said Ehnisz, adding that sometimes, even though the water is scheduled to arrive on a specific date, the government often neglects to turn on the tap for days.
“They try to do their laundry (hand-washed) and other water-consumption activities on the water days,” Ehnisz described, telling a story about children at a school all week without water. “The thing is, there isn’t a lack of water, there’s a lack of drinking water.”
Both Agua organizations rent space from a well-equipped medical facility (nic-named the compound), complete with dorms which house about 30 people.
While Ehnisz has never seen firsthand any drug-related violence that Mexico has become notorious for in recent years, the Canadian convoys do take precautions.
“I don’t go out downtown Saskatoon at 3 a.m., because I think I might get rolled, right? And obviously when we’re in Mexico, it’s daylight from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. approximately. And after dark, we don’t leave the compound. I have never felt in fear, but we don’t go out after dark,” he explained.
He has, however seen evidence of violence – a common symptom of widespread poverty.
“There are problems there. The crime – I don’t want to discourage people, but yeah. There’s a house, we drilled a few wells just south of the compound about two miles in a squatter’s village. And on the way out there, there’s a house there – they’re concrete homes – and it’s riddled with bullet holes. Basically, we would never see in our world here. And it is over a drug situation, The elements are there, we just don’t put ourselves at risk. The rules we have amongst ourselves, we’re not going to jeopardize the

whole trip for one evening.”
Despite the cost, the hard labour and the risks, Ehnisz says it’s worth it. In areas which the group has never worked before, the reaction is a little muted, as local residents watch and learn what’s going on. Near towns and villages where they have drilled in the past, the volunteers are welcomed like long-lost relatives.
“It’s like anything else, The area where we have drilled before or they know of us, they are very, very co-operative. They’re very appreciative, They’ll bring us dinner, they’ll help us do whatever work we need to do, they’ll bring us refreshments.”
Ehnisz says he was asked once why Mexicans couldn’t drill their own wells. And while he says the services are available, they are certainly not affordable for Mexico’s poor families and communities.
“I often think of it this way, it would be like saying, ‘Can’t the town of Leader find a doctor? Isn’t there a doctor in Canada?’ Yeah, there is, but you know what? They don’t come to Leader so easy. They don’t come to these small towns very easily. And the people maybe can’t afford to do those things. That’s kinda the gap we’re in.”
More information on the program can be found at www.aguaministries.ca, including google map images of actual well-drilling sites.
Ehnisz isn’t the only local resident making the trek this year. His daughter Charity is also going. So is Richmound’s Gilles Dumonceaux and of course, Casey and Dana Sitter, who now live in North Battleford.
On Jan. 16, at 5 p.m., a supper will be held to raise funds to drill new wells in Mexico this year. Sitter will be there with a presentation on the organization’s work and a gourmet turkey meal prepared by Sharon, Aileen and Darla Ehnisz will be served. The event is to take place at the Leader Community Hall. Tickets can be obtained by calling 628-4373, 628-4206 or 628-8880. The majority of monies raised help to pay for the equipment and cost of drilling the new wells.
Ehnisz says the fund-raising feast usually attracts about 150 people and says it’s an excellent way to reconnect people with the project.
“We want to keep the people informed. We’ve had a lot of people support us, maybe not by going to Mexico, but they’ve always contributed financially. And we just want to keep them informed of what we’re doing and that the cause keeps going.”