As the old saying goes, some things in life we take for granted. It is a phrase often used, but often ignored. However, the reality is many people in this world experience difficulties we can hardly imagine.

One such difficulty was faced by the Mayan villagers of Lagunita Salvador, in the municipality of Livingston, Guatemala. There, the people had gone without clean, drinkable water for years – the entire life of the village, in fact. The had petitioned the government to help for years, but to no avail. The looked for help from everyone they could find, but no one would or could provide the support.

Donations to Hope for the Rio Dulce, and the very generous support of the organization “Kids to Kids Outreach“, recently made their dream of clean water a reality, however.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clean water system built carries water from a uncontaminated, spring-fed mountain stream into a holding tank, then down over a course of 2 kilometers down to the village, and finally is distributed to each home in the village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water they receive from this system is not what we would call “clean water”. It comes from a stream,and still needs to be filtered or boiled. But to them, it is a Godsend to the mayan villagers – and it is much cleaner than their previous source of water: poorly dug wells near their homes. This new source of water will help their children to grow up healthier, with less instances of sickness and water-borne illnesses. The well water they used previously was often contaminated.

It will also be plentiful year-round. The stream that is the source of the clean water never runs dry. The Mayan villagers wells often ran dry during the dry season.

So, thanks to all that donated and helped make this dream a reality. If you didn’t, consider making a donation today, to help bring more projects such as these to the villagers in need.