As we were busy stewing about how we were going to successfully deliver 100 more Hydraid Biosand Water Filters on the other side of the world, not to mention implement them, Father Nguyen Khac Minh (Father Michael), priest at the Rach Suc Mission Church, invited our son Louis to visit and stay with them for a couple of months. To say the least, he JUMPED at the chance. Louis, soon to be entering the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, knew that this would be a great opportunity to put his hands to the plow and work with Father Michael at the mission church in Can Tho. This would also give him the opportunity to check up on the thirty-one water filters sent in September 2013 along with being there when the one hundred more biosand water filters arrived.
So, it was underway; we shipped the biosand water filters in mid-February and sent Louis to Can Tho at the end of March. We knew that timing was crucial because our friend Dr. 
Thanh H. (Helen) Nguyen, an associate professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and two of her students, Krisos Spyratos and Marta Grabowski were to arrive in Can Tho after their visit to a community in Nepal and Thailand. The purpose of their visit was to us help find good sand for the filters, teach our friends in Can Tho the importance of water filtration and how to best maintain the filter.
In Louis’ words, 
“Looking for the correct sand and gravel was a more difficult task than what we had anticipated. We tried looking for beach sand near the mission church that was affordable; however, there were only so many connections. It seemed that everywhere we looked, the good sand and gravel was either too far away or too expensive.
When Professor Helen arrived with Krisos and Marta, we were so relieved to finally have someone who could direct us in our endeavors; and that they did. They were a tremendous help. With their knowledge and resources, they were able to find a good source of river sand and gravel that we, before they came, spent hours trying to locate. The silver lining was that the sand source ended up being close to the church after all. Our lack of experience would have rendered this sand unacceptable. Professor Helen, Krisos and Marta, however, taught us how to clean the river-sand properly making it acceptable to use in the filter.
The cleaning process was a multi-step process and very time consuming. The sand needed to be cleaned in a large bin with several draining’s of the dirty water. The gravel required an even more tedious cleaning process, but once completed, it provided the correct balance for the filtration system. Without the help of Professor Helen, Krisos & Marta the success would not have been so prompt. It was a great feeling to be able to end my trip with such a success story.”
We at Bridges of Saint Mark cannot thank Dr. Thanh H. (Helen) Nguyen, Krisos Spyratos and Marta Grabowski enough for their efforts. They were, as we’ve said, a tremendous help.
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