Meet Ashta, a mom in Chad who has collected water her entire life from this pond. In the dry season, the source was three miles away. Sometimes she could take her donkey, but often she just had to make the trek on foot.This water was causing us health issues. We’d often have stomach aches, diarrhea, or itchy skin. The closest health center is about four miles away, so that wasn’t the most helpful. In the past, we’ve lost children to waterborne illnesses.
All these things seemed like they would never change. But now they have!
(Before) Carrying water back from the brown pond which is to their right.
I never dreamed we would have our own safe water source in our village. The water tower not only provides plenty of clean water for my family, but for the entire community.
The other moms and I now have more time. We have time to cook. Time to clean. Time to be with our children.
Along with the water source, we’ve learned lessons about the importance of clean water and hygiene. Before, since we didn’t have enough water for our basic needs, we rarely washed our hands. Now we wash our hands all the time.
(After) The tap in Ashta’s community where clean water flows now!
Thanks to this new water source, we now have hope. I’m hopeful for the opportunities that arise from having water. We hope that one day we’ll have a school in our area so we can enroll our children and also have a health center nearby to go to. The women are also excited to plant fruits, like watermelon and melons, since we have enough water now for gardening. We have big hopes for our village.”
Every number of the 771 million without clean water has a name, like Ashta.
From hopeless, to exhausted mom, to stricken ill, to healthy, to new opportunities, to hopeful.
You can be a part of bringing hope forever.
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