Drinking Water You Know Will Make You Sick

Abraham, 13, and his mom, Isabel, live in the mountains of Peru more than 13-thousand-feet above sea level. They support themselves by farming and raising sheep and cattle. Abraham is a big help to his mom. “I help collect water. I help care for the sheep, the cows, and a donkey,” he told us.  

The greatest need for Abraham and other families in the community has been clean water. For generations they’ve gotten water from 2 locations, a pond which collects runoff during rainy season, and an open pit shallow well which is more contaminated than the pond. "The well is very polluted with parasites and insects. Even the cows and the sheep get sick from drinking it,” said Abraham. 

Collecting water has been a challenge too. “We have to carry large buckets on our backs,” said Abraham’s mom Isabel. “They are really heavy. It takes us three hours to get water every time we go.” 

Abraham said he regularly got sick from drinking bad water. “Sometimes I got a headache, fever, diarrhea and stomach aches," recalled the teen. “I would get sick for a whole week. I felt bad because then mom had to do all the work alone.” 

Then Operation Blessing came to the community with a plan. First, we dug a new well with concrete walls. Then we added pipes and a storage tank with chlorine to purify the water. Finally, we ran pipes from the tank to homes in the community—including Abraham’s.

“I was happy when I saw that water project," declared Abraham. “I knew we would be able to fill the animal’s trough, and that I would have water to take a shower!” Abraham said he was also excited to drink the water without getting sick. “The water is very clean and cold to drink. Thank you, Operation Blessing for bringing water to our house!”