WATER CRISIS IN EL SALVADOR...We Can Make a Difference!

WATER, the stuff of life and a basic human right, is at the heart of a daily crisis faced by more than one billion of the world's most vulnerable people—a crisis that threatens life and consigns large segments of humanity to chronic disease, poverty, and insecurity.

Contaminated drinking water kills! Nobody wants to drink water contaminated with feces, but when that is your only means of water, it’s your only choice. Amoebas, cholera, shigella, campylobacter, salmonella…these are parasites and bacteria that kill their hosts. They multiply inside stomachs and intestines, and then cause their hosts to become very ill. For a child, becoming a host may mean death. These parasites and bacteria live freely in many of the communities’ water in El Salvador.

Water-related disease is the single largest killer of infants in developing countries—diarrhea alone causes 1.8 million child deaths each year—and access to safe water is the most important factor in the survival of children under the age of five. Nearly half of all people in developing countries are suffering from water-related health problems. The annual number of deaths from water-related diseases is six times greater than the number of deaths from armed violence.

Women wake up every morning to fetch water from the river–the same river used for washing clothes and taking baths. Education suffers as a result of the consequential illness that plagued the community. Children and adults all suffer from kidney problems, parasites and chronic diarrhea due to contaminated water.

Going to El Salvador…We have decided to go on a mission trip to El Salvador with some people from our community of faith, Mosaic. We are going to dig a well so that a community will have access to clean drinking water. Yes, we are leaving for a week without our husbands and kids, in the middle of the school year, with limited funds, to a foreign country, to do hard manual labor …I know you are saying, “What are they thinking?” As mothers, we cannot stand the thought of children suffering when there is a simple solution available that we can help to provide. We are willing to drop everything here so that we can go and make a difference and help people, especially the children, who need it. Between our two husbands and family, our children will be well taken care of and loved! (We will miss them greatly!)

Here is the plan…We leave on Saturday, November 15, 2008. We will spend the next week getting to know the community, digging the well and teaching them how to use and take care of it. Some of us will even be teaching the community about hygiene. (We are enrolled in a conversational Spanish class…very excited to learn more than “Hola!” and “Como estas?”) After our work is done, we will come home on Saturday, November 22.

A little info about the organization…Living Water International has been working towards an end to the global water crisis for more than 17 years, and has directly implemented 5,000 (and counting) water projects. They have developed the most effective dollar-for-dollar model in operation. Their approach—to train, equip, and consult nationals—ensures that the energy and resources contributed by volunteers and donors result in sustainable, participatory water systems that meet the long-term needs of communities. Living Water International provides trained national teams with all the components needed to implement community water solutions. Local people are hired and local materials are purchased whenever possible, creating jobs and income to further benefit the community at large. LWI is able to learn from the community what water solution will be the most appropriate, practical, and functional for the specific community. The committee often participates in the implementation and is trained in basic maintenance of the new water system—typically a hand pump.

How you can help…In order to go, we need to raise some money! Denise and I had a neighborhood garage sale in September and raised a great amount of money. So many of you donated items to our garage sale, therefore it was very successful. (Thank you so much!)

We are also accepting monetary donations. You can mail a check to me at:
4011 Cherryhill Ct. Arlington, TX 76016.

Or you can use your paypal account:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=wXdCsBJEFKWr2B4gm_ir-Fuz-y_IYSyPkC2rJMoTEso6OtqDCXItdbCkP2e&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f80512b0980fcab74abc3e59231243d18198d800d5b9d32ad

If you do not want to or cannot support us by these means, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Learn more…
http://www.mosaic.org/ – my community of faith, hope and love.
www.water.cc – organization supplying the well materials

Thank you…The two of us and our families would like to thank you for your support. Whether you support us financially, through prayer, or simply by spreading the word, we thank you. The first step to ending this water crisis is learning the facts and the second is taking action. We can give the gift of water! There is an entire world out there suffering and while we may not be reaching them all today, we have comfort in knowing that even one child may benefit from this effort and that’s what makes it all worthwhile. From our families to yours, thank you!

Love and Peace,
Brandy & Denise