Unsafe!

Chiapas, Mexico

Elena was expecting her second child. She lives with her husband and 5-year-old son in a rural community in Mexico. There, water is scarce. “The water we collect is far from home,” Elaina told us. “About 40 minutes’ walk each way. Before I was pregnant, I carried a heavy bucket on a difficult path. In our minds we thought we would do this forever.” 

Unfortunately, the water they collect is not safe to drink. “My son got sick with diarrhea. Sometimes he vomited. We got stomach cramps and diarrhea too. I’m terrified every time I gave him water to drink because there is not money for medicine if he gets sick.”  

Elena was also frightened about what the bad water might do to her unborn baby. So, her husband rode two hours by motorcycle to buy bottled water for her. “He spends a lot of money every two days...we can’t afford that.”  

Then, thanks to YOU, Operation Blessing provided all 26 households in Elena’s community with rain water harvesting systems. Each tank stores and purifies up to 1,300 gallons of water. 

Elena recently gave birth to a baby boy and now all will have clean water to wash, bathe, and drink! 

“Now we have clean water at home! I drink whenever I want and give it to my children knowing they won’t get sick anymore. Thank you—you have changed our lives!” she said.