Tim Cleath's Rwanda Journey

Have Heart Will Travel By Graham Haworth. Name a place ravaged by poverty or war in the past 30 years and Tim Cleath has probably been there. Afghanistan, Zambia, Chad, parts of Brazil, Nicaragua, Uzbekistan, Kenya, Uganda and Romania are just a handful of the countries Cleath has visited to help set up clean water systems, not to mention hand out basic supplies needed for hospitals, schools and soccer fields. His latest visit took him to Rwanda during the first two weeks of August. Cleath was accompanied by about 15 people from El Morro Nazarene Church in Los Osos, led by Pastor Ron Schmidt. Their destination was Gisenyi, Rwanda, on the western side of the country near the border with Chad. Cleath's specialty is water development overseas. In the past, he's worked with Lifewater International, although this trip was made possible by El Morro Nazarene and Rotary International. Cleath's 1975 trip to Thailand made him realize that not everyone in the world has access to clean water. He put his master's degree in water resources to use in traveling to far corners of the globe to help people set up systems for clean water. "It's important to me to show people how to do it, to show them the methodology," Cleath says. "It's the whole 'give a man a fish, he eats for a day; show a man how to fish, he eats for a lifetime' saying. My role is to teach them how to develop clean water supplies and then encourage them to do the work themselves." Cleath previously traveled to Rwanda 20 years ago to establish a well-drilling project. But the civil war and genocide in that country during the 1990s left the project dead in the water. These days, though, Rwanda has a much more unified identity; most inhabitants consider themselves Rwandese. From August 1 to 18, Cleath and his fellow volunteers did more than help set up water supplies in Gisenyi, a city with a population of about 60,000. Volunteers, who included nurses, educators and construction specialists, set about building latrines, water storage tanks, rain catchments and gutters. Through the SLO Futbol Project, they handed out about 50 soccer balls. The Rotary Club donated more than 300 English dictionaries, and the SLO County YMCA donated clothing. "The 15 participants each took an extra bag weighing up to 50 pounds of donated supplies," Cleath says. "That's 750 pounds that will make a huge difference to the people of Gisenyi."