Clean Water is Life

Thank you so much for sharing!

Last week I shared a story about Maria del Carmen and her sewing group.  Today, I want to share another amazing story from my trip to Honduras with World Vision.  I’d like to introduce you to Angie.  Angie is 6 years old and lives in a little town with her large family.  They don’t have water.  And the water that they walk to get is contaminated.  If there was 1 major takeaway from learning about these water projects in Honduras, it is that clean water is life.

“Without water you have nothing. Water is life.”- Javi, World Vision Water Coordinator

Here is the video my husband and I made to share the impact that World Vision is making with their water projects.

Back to 6 year old Angie 🙂 Every morning at 5am the kids get up before school and make 2 trips for water to a local stream.  The water is run off from a local coffee farm and it’s contaminated with pesticides and animal feces. We came to visit and did the walk for water with them, to see what daily life was like.  This is Angie’s sister Paola and she’s showing me how strong she is from carrying all those bottles every day.

Not only do they use this water for drinking, but also for laundry and bathing as well.

While we were visiting the water source, Angie took a bowl of water and started to drink it! I wanted to stop her because I knew it was contaminated, but it is all that they have.  It is better to use my voice here to help them get clean water.

It breaks my heart to hear that women and children get sick, spend so much time away from home, getting hurt or assaulted while they are out gathering water.  This is a problem for millions of people in the developing world.

We not only saw a community in need of water, but a community that now has water!  I loved that we could see both and feel HOPE!  It was so awesome to see this beautiful family so happy and healthy.

In Los Patios, the community that has had water for 2 years – you could see the difference.  The kids weren’t getting sick anymore, they were together more as a family and the community knows how to maintain the pipes and take care of the tank so that they have water for generations to come.  In this next photo I’m having fun with Maria in front of THE tank that holds the clean water. She has lived 54 years without water, but that all changed because of World Vision and the hard work of the community.

Clean water makes such a huge difference, water is life!

On May 19, I will be walking and hosting a virtual walk for water, the 6kforWater!  Click the link to join my team!  6 kilometers is the average distance a person (mostly women and children) walk to get water that is most likely contaminated.  Your $50 registration will provide clean water to 1 person in the developing world with the World Vision water projects, that’s so crazy! Plus you get a tshirt and race bib!  You can walk from anywhere, map out a route in your neighborhood and encourage friends and family to join you. Every step you take will be one that they don’t have to. Join me May 19! Use the hashtag #melaniesmakersgive to join in. I will do a facebook live at the beginning of the walk that I’ll be doing with my family and sharing on Instagram stories throughout the day.  It’ll be fun!

I see a world with neighborhoods with more tanks like this, do you see it to?  It’s possible, clean water is life and is the beginning of so much potential for a family. I have seen first hand the difference clean water makes.  World Vision is the largest non governmental organization providing clean water to the developing world, they know what they are doing.  Their methods have made it possible for communities to have sustainable water for years to come – it’s not a temporary fix, it’s lasting change.

This post was made in partnership with World Vision. All thoughts, opinions and experiences are my own. Thankful to have the opportunity to share this story.