Man partners with Lockeford church to provide clean water to Vietnamese villages
For nearly 20 years Mel Potter has dedicated his life to helping the poor in Vietnam, partnering with several organizations to provide access to medical and dental care.
His latest venture involves building wells to provide clean water to two villages in Vietnam, and he has enlisted the help of Lockeford Seventh Day Adventist Church to get the job done.
“I had somebody from the village ask me to help them get water because they don’t have any,” Potter said. “In the winter months or in the spring, they have no problem, but next month their well will be dry. Every year their well goes dry so we need to go deeper.”
According to Potter, the wells currently available in the two villages are hand dug and have poor sanitation. Bottled water is not an option because of cost and the long distance to the nearest town, he said.
“They’ve got cows laying around the well, and pigs,” Potter said. “All that seeps into their water system. If I can get the wells dug, (a nonprofit out of France is) going to put in a water purification system, so they can have water that even I wouldn’t be afraid to drink.”
The cost to install the wells is about $7,000 each and the Lockeford Seventh Day Adventist Church is helping to raise between $14,000 and $15,000 for the project.
“We had already been talking about providing wells to those in need, and as soon as we found out what Mel was doing we wanted to help,” said Barbara Miller, a member of the church.
According to Potter, the church has helped him raise funds for various mission projects in Vietnam for more than a decade, and this is their biggest project yet.
Potter is trying to provide a well for both villages, but if they are not able to raise enough funds the two villages will have to share a well.
“The villages are a mile and a half apart so they would have to walk and carry their water back,” Potter said.
The wells will be serving between 300 to 500 people in each village, Potter said.
Potter got his first glimpse of Vietnam while fighting in the Vietnam War.
“I had seen the poverty. I had seen what life was like back there and for the poor it has not really changed,” Potter said.
“The richer are getting richer, but the poor people are living basically like they did 50 years ago, and I’d rather help people that have absolutely nothing and are appreciative of what you do for them.”
After returning for a visit in 1998 he hooked up with the East Meets West Foundation which does charity work in Vietnam. He began shipping containers of medical supplies to the country and working with a program visiting Vietnamese primary schools six times a year to provide free dental care. Now he is working with an organization called the Vina Capital Foundation which provides free heart surgeries to children in Vietnam.
“I just saw the need over there, and over there they’re so appreciative for the smallest thing you do for them,” he said. “I got a girl that’s going to have heart surgery next week, and I gave her a doll and her sister a stuffed animal, and you would have thought I gave both of them a million dollars.”
Potter said the little girl had been waiting for her heart surgery for 13 years because in Vietnam health care is not accessible without funds.
“If you don’t have money they won’t even talk to you at the hospital. When you come in, you pay before they go any further,” Potter said.
With the help of Vina Capital, he was able to schedule the surgery.
“I just saw the need over there, and over there they’re so appreciative for the smallest thing you do for them. I got a girl that’s going to have heart surgery next week, and I gave her a doll and her sister a stuffed animal, and you would have thought I gave both of them a million dollars.”
“Her mother was in tears that somebody was finally able to help her because she’s got a very rare heart defect, and if not done before age 13 the likelihood of her living is not really good. They say after having this heart surgery its 90 to 95 percent.” Potter said.
Potter hopes to help the people of Vietnam for as long as he can. He is originally from Galt and attended both Lodi Union High School and Lodi Academy. He now resides in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Those interested in helping the church raise funds for the wells can contact Barbara Miller at 209-608-0827. All checks should be made out to Lockeford Seventh Day Adventist Church and note that its for the Vietnam well project. Donations can also be mailed to P. O. Box 70, Lockeford, CA 95237.