Water. How can something so basic be so valuable? And how can something so apparently abundant in some places of the world be so scarce in others?
But this trip to Peru wasn’t about a lack of water. It was about a lack of clean water. Water that stimulates life rather than suffocates it. Water that’s free from bacteria and invisible microorganisms causing diseases that, at best, force the sufferer to accept a permanently uncomfortable existence, and, at worst, can lead to death.
Did you know that water-, sanitation-, and hygiene-related diseases kill over 3 million people around the world each year, mostly children? Did you also know that over 700 million people worldwide live without access to clean water? That kind of stuff blows my mind!!
Back in the summer, our church (Highpoint) sent three guys on an intensive training course to become certified with Living Waters for the World. Since they began in the early 90s, LWW have installed over 500 chemical-free water filtration systems around the world… and have trained those 500 local communities how to use it, maintain it, fix it, share it with those around them, and turn it into a self-sustaining and/or profit-generating business. At the same time, they’ve been teaching the people about health and hygiene. It’s an amazing program.
Those same three guys who did the training (Peet was one of them) formed part of our team of 15 who traveled to Peru on Highpoint’s mission trip in October. Throughout our week there, they visited five different locations and started the assessment process in each place to see who might benefit the most from installing a system early next year.
And there’s the kicker. When you go to these places, you can think of 101 reasons why they all need a water filtration system. Heck, even if you can only think of one reason, surely that’s reason enough, right?? But the reality is that the financial donations needed to install the thing are limited, and people volunteering their time to do the installing and training are few. So, for now, we do for one community what we can’t do for all of them. And we have to find peace in that.
Practically speaking, the assessment process is laborious. The guys climbed onto all sorts of precarious rooftops and platforms to get to the various water tanks, they took samples of water from the different wells being used, and they tested them on-site for specific bacteria. They also took samples to send back to LWW in the US for more intensive testing to see exactly what’s in the water and in what quantity.
And then there’s the paperwork. Ugh. Those poor community leaders!! They have to fill in pages and pages of paperwork, giving information on anything from how many people would be using the clean water, to what kinds of sicknesses they’re seeing in their community right now; from whether or not they have a team they can rely on to run and maintain the new system, to how the community would be impacted if they were able to set it up as a profit-generating business. Blah blah blah.
As much as I want to baulk at the paperwork and scream from the rooftops, “JUST GIVE ‘EM CLEAN WATER ALREADY!!”, that wouldn’t be my most helpful contribution to the team. It’s a big deal to get one of these systems, and LWW needs to know that it’ll be looked after and maintained for the long term, rather than abandoned after 6 months when someone else could’ve benefitted from it from day one and kept it running for years. Hence the need for a local team on the ground who can be trained and take responsibility for it.
It’s also good for the leader to feel the weight of the process through the paperwork part of the equation. This isn’t something they’ll get handed with a bow on top by a smiley missionary who never comes back again. (Oops – did I say that out loud??) No… he needs to be invested in this, confident that through proper use, this will transform the lives of those around him for years and years to come. And the relationship we’re building with him and his team will serve as a support for what they’re doing.
While we were visiting the first location for testing, we found out that their well was having issues (#thirdworldplumbingproblems). Long story, but it wouldn’t work with the filtration system. As a result of that conversation and on the same day, they started digging a new well on their property!! Maybe that was a little presumptuous since there’s no guarantee the system will be installed on their premises even if they have a shiny new well. But during the week we were there, they received a donation of money that miraculously covered the cost of digging that new well… so whether they’re the recipients of a filtration system or not, it’s safe to say God has His hand on them.
Meanwhile, like them, we hang with bated breath, waiting to find out who receives the justifiably-coveted clean water system…
(Check out our next post to read how our hearts were broken as we met the staff and students who will be receiving the new water filtration system…)
Quick update (Dec 2015):
It’s looking like the clean water system will indeed be installed at that first location we visited: a school for disabled children and young adults called Refuge of Hope… yay!! That’s 600 people on a daily basis who will finally have access to clean water for the first time!! Highpoint Church is feverishly raising funds to pay for the installation of the system, currently scheduled for February 2016. If you’d like to make a donation (tax-deductible for US residents), please go here and select “Pour Me Out” in the “Fund” field. Thanks!!
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