Making Futures Bright!

December 8, 2023

‘Tis the season of traditions! Your own holiday traditions might even include printing a joyful greeting card and sending it to those you hold dear this time of year. At Change for Children, one of our traditions is making Global Gift Cards available for sharing by donation to help you make spirits bright while also making futures bright for many!

And while seeing oneself in the magic of glossy print is perhaps no longer the thrill for most of us that it once was, for one young man in northern Nicaragua upon seeing his own joyful face in print last month, the thrill was pure magic!

While in the community of Santa Teresa, we shared with young Kendrick a printed global gift card with his own smile emblazoned across its front. And clutching it in his own two hands, he didn’t stop smiling.

Truth be told, our team was also all smiles. We have been working with Kendrick’s community and community water committee since well before he was born. The water well we drilled in 2006 is the very well from which Kendrick’s family draws their water. The well’s continued maintenance stands as proof of a long, fruitful, and proud partnership.

Kendrick’s own grandmother, Candida Escalante, traveled to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 to accept the Equator Prize (link page 8) that was awarded for our Nicaragua Water Project, and she also showed the world what one woman could do with a little more free time afforded by water access by starting a women’s baseball league!

Today, thanks to continued partnership and an active water committee empowered through our Technology for Sustainable Water Governance project, water tank construction is underway to better serve the growing community who find themselves rationing water to ensure that everybody gets their fair share. A water tank will mean women no longer having to fill pitchers and pails to store water and no longer scheduling school and work around taking their turn at the tap.

During our visit, re-bar for the tank’s base was in place, and young men (more than a few years older than Kendrick!) hauled sand and gravel to the site, contributing sweat equity to the project. Women like Candida revealed through conversation a great knowledge about their water system and that sustainable management practices have helped them to adapt to the changing realities of water access brought on by climate change.

Kendrick’s future is indeed looking bright!
Will you help make futures bright for more families this season?

Making Futures Bright.
A pretty great tradition.  

Central America and the Caribbean Climate Change Health In The Field Nicaragua Water