Community for the Holidays
December 3, 2019 by
Back in 2017, in Las Liras, Nicaragua, we follow young Yubelkis down to the river. She points out the small hole that has been dug on its bank. She reaches in and pulls out some loose sand, digging just a little deeper with her small hands before water begins to fill the hole from the bottom up. Bowl by bowl, she scoops the water into a four-gallon pail. The sand, it seems, provides a natural filter to filter out the sediment. This is the first line of defense against the contaminated river water. Filtering the water through a rag, we learn, is the second. Both are no match for bacterial contamination that can cause dysentery, typhoid, or worse.
Fast forward to 2019 where we return to see a community united.
We saw a woman who volunteered her land upon which the community water well has now been drilled.
We saw the sweat equity of 150 families preparing to dig trenches between the water tank and their homes to have water come through a pvc pipe with a spigot outside their front doors.
We saw a luxury that looks far different from our own.
But, we saw the right to water realized nonetheless.
We saw 800 lives changed.
In Las Liras, we saw HOPE.
Your support of Change for Children gifts that very feeling. The promise of possibility. The desire to look ahead, the anticipation of opportunity. Change for Children projects allow people to grow, to succeed, to dream, to shine.
And while there really is no place like HOPE for the Holidays, there’s also no place like Community.
Shine on. Share hope. Spread joy.
Blog Central America and the Caribbean Nicaragua Nicole Farn Water