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Families in Guatemala are shown with new water filtration systems provided by Roots to Rise International.

Courtesy Roots to Rise International

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Dave and Debbie Rowe, at left, are shown with Luis Navarijo, at right, and recipients of eyeglasses in Guatemala.

Courtesy Luis Navarijo

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People in Guatemala check in to receive eye exams through Roots to Rise International.

Courtesy Luis Navarijo

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Springville residents Dave and Debbie Rowe are transforming lives through simple means like clean water and clear vision.

In 2021, Dave, an educator, reconnected with a young man named Luis Navarijo whom he helped baptize during his church mission in Guatemala in 1990. He discovered that Navarijo and his wife Maribel had three children: Geraldine, a 16-year-old daughter; Rodrigo, a 9-year-old son; and Marjorie, a 6-year-old daughter.

“We really wanted to help them with their education,” Dave said. “Debbie began teaching Maribel and Geraldine English through Zoom, and we helped the children enroll in better schools. We believe education is the key.”

Dave and Debbie traveled to Guatemala on a humanitarian trip in 2024 with their neighbor Quinn Galbraith, his brother and their nonprofit organization Eagle Vision Worldwide. It was life-changing experience for them, and they fell in love with the country and the people.

“We were able to spend a few days with Luis and his family,” Debbie said. “We felt a strong connection with the Navarijos and felt a huge desire to come back and help them and their friends.”

When the Rowes arrived home, they began fundraising for water filters. They learned of a bucket water filtration system families could use in their homes for a small cost. Then, in January 2025, Dave and Debbie, along with two of their children, went to Guatemala with 90 water filters and decided they wanted to create a nonprofit.

They also knew they needed someone on the ground to help them, so they talked to Luis and Maribel about the idea and how they could potentially be involved.

“We talked about different roles,” Dave said. “He took the role as the in-country director – scheduling, organizing and securing the materials. He has completely knocked it out of the park. He is all in and so inspiring because he selflessly works to find people who are committed and serious.”

Luis was thrilled with this opportunity. When he was younger, a friend told him about a nonprofit in Guatemala where he could take English classes. He received a scholarship for five months to attend the school. Additionally, he received instruction about his future and what differences he could make in the world. He felt that someday he would be helping others through a nonprofit, but he never told anyone about it, even his wife.

“When Dave and Debbie Rowe reached out and talked to me about this opportunity to help them, I felt happy because it validated my feelings and goals I had early in my life,” Luis said. “It is an honor to help provide families with clean water, eye glasses and scholarships.”

In April 2025, the Rowe family began the paperwork for their Roots to Rise International nonprofit. It was approved in August, and they returned to Guatemala in October. Their mission statement touts four focus areas: “clean water access, educational opportunities, healthcare services and community development initiatives that address the root causes of poverty” (rootstoriseintl.com).

“We wanted to create a nonprofit that included education, clean water and glasses,” Debbie said. “We brainstormed with our children to determine the best name and decided that roots was a good symbol for a foundation and what grows out of that is a productive and beautiful tree. Thus, our nonprofit became Roots to Rise International.”

As they focused on their mission, they were led to some amazing resources for the glasses and the good water filters that could service a family for 15 years if they took care of them. The Rowes bumped into people who were doing water filters in Guatemala, and the pieces came together.

One major issue in these communities is water. Families basically have two options: drink the water and be sick, or they can purchase water if they can afford it, which takes a significant portion of their income. Roots to Rise is helping with a clean water initiative by providing a bucket water filter system that saves families a significant amount of money over a 10-year period.

“In Guatemala, most people do not have clean water in their homes, so they either drink contaminated water or buy purified water on their limited incomes,” Debbie said. “If they have clean water, they will have better health. So far, we have provided clean water filter systems to 212 households. Plus, in January of this year, we supplied a water filter system to each of the 11 classrooms in a school in Cerro de Oro so the children could have clean water and better health.”

The water filters are ordered through Sawyer. The Rowes haul the filters in suitcases to Guatemala, and Luis buys the five-gallon buckets through local resources. Once the Rowes arrive, they take the filter system components to designated locations, teach the people how to assemble them and demonstrate how they work and how to maintain them.

Roots to Rise International also focuses on education. Luis sits down with families and determines needs.

“We have provided 19 scholarship so far,” Debbie said. “Since we want the families to pay what they can, we provide one half of the monthly tuition for the students who were selected.”

Finding people in need is not the issue. Rather, it is deciding who receives the resources. Often the names come in miraculous ways. One such experience happened to Luis. One evening as he was thinking about who he should help, his third-grade teacher’s name came to mind. He hadn’t seen her in years.

“The next day, I went to the store, and there she was, my teacher,” Luis said. “We had a nice conversation! When I asked her how her vision was, she told me that it was failing her. We went to the doctor right then for an eye exam, and my teacher soon received a new pair of glasses.”

The eyeglasses project reaps many benefits in so many ways. On one occasion, Luis bumped into two women who were seamstresses, and they needed serious vision corrections.

“They both were able to receive glasses and were able to see better to sew,” Dave said. “Being able to see truly impacts their economic health by helping them continue to be productive.”

Roots to Rise has two partners in the United States: Eagle Vision Worldwide and Charity Vision in Utah. Eagle Vision provides the resource for prescription glasses, and Charity Vision provides the reading glasses.

Luis and Maribel’s 16-year-old daughter was coronated queen of her city and decided to help people as part of her platform. Geraldine knew about the Rowe’s eyeglass project in Cerro de Oro but discovered they were not coming to her city. She contacted her city leader and asked if someone could donate a bus to drive people up to Cerro de Oro. He agreed, and soon they had two buses filled with people who made the almost two-hour trip.

“It was an incredible experience,” Geraldine said. “At first, the people didn’t believe that we would take them. My family and over 65 people went. More than 50% of those who went received a pair of glasses. People were surprised that they would receive glasses. I love volunteering for Roots to Rise.”

Changes happen in the lives of the people who are involved with Roots to Rise. For the Rowes, Roots to Rise is truly a family-based nonprofit. Spencer, the youngest Rowe child, went with Debbie and Dave when they first went to Guatemala with Quinn Galbraith. They have also taken several of their adult children down with them to provide service and have plans to take more. Beyond traveling to Guatemala, others have helped provide support in other ways, including building their website.

Like many other nonprofits, Roots to Rise’s big challenge is fundraising, but they continue to work on it. A key feature of Roots to Rise is that 100% of all donations go straight to the people.

“We are at the mercy of donations, but we are always fundraising,” Debbie said. “We have had some bigger donors, and a few family foundations have helped. We appreciate those who have been so generous. We continue to find other friends who want to help give clean water to families and fund eye exams. We are working on a fundraiser right now for our January trip.”

Neighbors, families and others have been very generous at helping fund Roots to Rise International. A small donation goes a long way. Thirty-five dollars can provide a family with a water filtration system, and $10 covers the cost of an eye exam.

“Our neighborhood was so wonderful!” Debbie said. “They assembled 200 backpacks full of school supplies for us to take on our trips to Guatemala. In October we took some down, and in January, we will be taking many more. This will help many children who can’t afford simple things like school supplies, which is required of them to attend school. Some dental hygiene students put together 90 dental hygiene kits for us to take with us to Guatemala.”

Roots to Rise has a bright future because of so many needs they have encountered and what they have learned along the way.

“We want the organization to be self-sustaining and generate funds to keep things going at a reasonable level,” Dave said. “We want to continue helping the people at a pace that we can maintain. We feel we are doing what we are supposed to be doing right now.”

The simple reason Roots to Rise foresees a great future is making a difference, one person at a time.

“We would love to have eye doctors who could provide eye care to so many who need vision help,” Debbie said. “I know that what we are doing is just a tiny drop, but when one person says after trying on a pair of glasses, ‘Claro, Claro’ (it’s clear! It’s clear!), it means the world to them. They can see for the first time in a long time. We will continue helping all the people we can!”

To connect with or donate to Roots to Rise International, send an email to roots2rise2025@gmail.com; go to rootstoriseintl.com; or Venmo donations to @Dave-Roots2Rise.