When: Saturday 4/18/2026, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Duration: 60 minutes
Presenters: Harry Farchmin - Rotary Club of Elmbrook Brookfield (6270), Jerry Stepaniak - Rotary Club of Milwaukee (6270), and Mark Broses - Rotary Club of Chippawa Falls (6250)
Room: Portia/Wisteria
Clean water changes everything. This Rotary workshop will showcase international water initiatives in Guatemala and Bolivia, sharing real-world successes, obstacles faced in implementation, and the lives impacted along the way. Participants will gain insight into what’s working, what remains challenging, and how Rotary can “Unite for Good” and help shape the next chapter of these vital projects.
Harry Farchmin, PE, LEED AP, is a registered Professional Engineer in Wisconsin. He has held senior leadership and ownership positions in regional and international consulting engineering firms retiring from full-time practice. He is currently an independent consulting engineer and volunteers for several state and community organizations. He is District Governor Nominee of District 6270, a Past-President (2022-23) of the Rotary Club of Elmbrook, Chair of the District 6270 Fellowship Committee, Chair of the City of Brookfield Sister Cities Committee, and is on the Executive Board of the Potawatomi Area Council Boy Scouts of America. Harry and his wife Anne celebrate their 47th Anniversary this year and have a daughter living in Alexandria, VA.
Jerry Stepaniak chairs the Rotary Club of Milwaukee’s World Community Services Committee (WCS). He has coordinated multiple Global Grants with a focus on community water systems in Guatemala. These ventures are consistently successful due to strong collaborations with Vista Hermosa (GT) Rotary Club, the Ingenieros sin Fronteras-GT non-profit organization, and designs by Engineers without Borders students from Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and volunteer engineers. WCS also has built multiple schools, kitchens, pedestrian and vehicular bridges in Guatemala. Other international efforts over the past seven years include medical supplies and generators for Ukraine, cleft palate surgery trips, other efforts for water and medical facilities in Africa and India, and recovery from volcanic eruptions and COVID. Jerry is theoretically retired from a wide-ranging career in state and local government and consulting with non-profit agencies. He has degrees from St. Norbert College and the University of Illinois and was an elected official for the City of Wauwatosa.
Mark Broses has 35+ years of experience as a Civil and Environmental Engineer. He joined the Chippewa Falls Rotary Club in 2006 and first visited Bolivia in 2007. The club has worked with the Rotary Club Tunari – Cochabamba Bolivia since 1990. The initial projects focused on Dental Clinics. Since 2006 our projects have primarily involved water and sanitation infrastructure. Mark has led 7 WASH projects in Bolivia including two Global Grants. The first Global Grant provided clean water supply, distribution and taps to 5,000 people and the second project provided a wastewater treatment plant serving 15,000 people. Mark is currently working on a third Global Grant to improve WASH facilities for a school.