Tainted Waters of the Ucayali

COLONIA DE CACO, Peru – Along the banks of the Ucayali River, you can often find young boys jumping playfully from the shore and toddlers splashing in the shallow waters.

But the water is anything but playful.

The women of Colonia de Caco dip their buckets into the river and carry the murky, brown water for two miles back to their homes for cooking, cleaning, and drinking.

The river is the only water source these villagers have, yet the river’s contaminated waters are doing much more harm than good.  

The condition of the river is deplorable. Dead animals, garbage and waste are regularly disposed of in the water upstream. By the time the villagers collect the water, it is rife with parasites. They suffer illnesses that range from simple stomachaches to serious cases of cholera and malaria.

Desperate for a solution, Mayor Roberto Silvano Rengifo came to Operation Blessing to ask for help — which was no easy task.

The remote jungle community is a 14-hour boat ride from the nearest city and villagers speak a native language called Shipibi instead of Spanish.

Operation Blessing quickly agreed to help and the team embarked down the Ucayali with two water purification systems secured atop a river boat.

The local government had already drilled an artisan well for the village prior to OBI teams arriving, but the water was not potable. It was, however, the perfect source for the water systems to filter and purify.

Within two hours, adults and children alike cheered as clean water came pouring from the unit. Mayor Rengifo was the first to taste the purified water before spraying it into the air and letting it rain down on a crowd of squealing children.

“We have had to drink water from the river and it has hurt us — but now this is going to help us live better without sickness,” Rengifo said. “Thank you to Operation Blessing who responded to our need and gave us this blessing of clean water. I am so excited and very grateful for all of this.”

Teams also installed a second unit in the village of Vista Alegre, also along the Ucayali river.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Help break the cycle of suffering by giving toward Operation Blessing's water wells and cisterns program. A gift of $1,800 can drill a well for villages and supply families with clean drinking water.