LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After a week of changing lives away from home, two Fern Creek High School returned from Central America.
Keegan Lerch and Alex Wilson traveled to Honduras to help the people of Puentecita. The JCPS students and their assistant principal, Dr. Jai Wilson, spent seven days building floors for houses and installing a water filtration system.
"It was a once in a lifetime feeling," Lerch said. "When we met the Honduran people, it was an instant connection."
Fern Creek High School students Alex Wilson and Keegan Lerch visited Honduras for a service project.
The teenage students were far away from home and unable to speak Spanish.
"I was using a lot of finger pointing, hand gestures," Lerch said.
But a language barrier couldn't get in the way of their passion for helping others.
"I made concrete flooring for houses that didn't have any," Wilson said.
"I was just putting pipes together so the village could have clean water because they didn't have any," Lerch said.
The clean water will help save lives and make things easier for the families of the village.
"They were having to boil their water prior," Lerch said.
The United Nations reports nearly 1 in 3 Hondurans don't have access to safe drinking water, which impacts life expectancy and infant mortality rates. Thanks to Lerch, some families in Puentecita will no longer have to worry about clean water.
"Everyone got to drink the clean water, I was basically a celebrity down there, everyone was asking to take pictures," Lerch said. "Everyone was so happy."
After Wilson's work, one family no longer has dirt as the foundation of their home.
"Hopefully I can come back next year and see them again," Wilson said.
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