Meet Marta, a young mother of three living in rural Nicaragua. Every morning she and her eldest son walk four miles to gather water from the closest river. But before you imagine an idyllic clean and clear stream, let me give you a few more details. This is a crowded river, one that villages from miles around use for things like laundry and bathing. Vehicles, carrying everything from produce to garbage, drive through it releasing oil, gasoline and other chemical residue into the water. It’s also a river used for irrigation and where much of the livestock in the area drink and defecate. This is water that carries life-threatening disease. The chemicals and waste found here can cause everything from liver and kidney damage to cancer in the long term. But even more deadly are the life-threatening diseases like Typhoid and Cholera that thrive in rivers like these.
Women like Marta travel miles for water that may harm her and her family. Marta’s situation is far from unique. There are thousands of families just like hers throughout the rural parts of Nicaragua, Bolivia and Mozambique, dying from ingesting contaminated water. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Esperança has worked for many years in all three of these countries, building wells that
generate safe water for entire villages. Our mission is to give Marta and others like her a chance at new life by building a well in her community that will provide safe water for years to come. The best part is we can accomplish this for $1,200. Esperanca provides all of the materials, tools and expertise needed for well construction, but 100% of the actual work comes from the benefitting villagers like Marta and her sons who are eager for fresh water. This not only saves thousands of dollars that can be invested in more wells, it also instills these wonderful people with a sense of pride for taking part in saving their own village. Additionally, the work teaches them the skills necessary to repair the well or construct new ones if necessary. Moreover, since we only use local materials, they can repair and build without any outside assistance. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Life will be different for Marta now-no 4 mile walks, no disease-ridden water for her family.Clean water really does bring new life.
