Water filter distribution in Tagucigalpa, Honduras
Agua con Bendiciones mission is to provide clean water to those who lack it…especially families with young children. They specifically target women and empower them as family and community leaders, so they are able to provide clean and safe water for their family as well as their neighbors. The unique approach they take has been extremely successful in creating community acceptance of Sawyer’s pointONE Filters™.
How they do it
Over a two-year period, beginning with a pilot program of ten women and throughout the distribution of nearly 500 systems, gathering wisdom and observing more lessons along the way, the program design comes clear.
A “Ministry Model” that requires recipients to share their new capacity for water purification with at least two other households for no less than 6 months. A training component that incorporates Gospel spirituality, a culture of service, basic understanding of parasitic contamination and health issues, assembly, decoration (very important!) and maintenance--concluding in blessing and contractual commitments. Women are designated as at need for the filter by the leadership of their faith congregation, or one in the neighborhood that will accept their application. In most cases, given that there will be more applicants than filters, their names are entered in a drawing which will be held in front of all the people. US “Mission Teams” (both faith-based and corporate) have a critical role. They adopt the program as a project to share with the people they are visiting. They purchase and transport the filters from the US according to their donor capacity. During their visit, the training takes place with their support: they plan and conduct activities with the children, help with organization and records, drill holes in the buckets, etc. A organizational structure that oversees the participation in the ministry for six months, at the end of which time the women are released from their obligation (though not discouraged from continuing it). A ministry model that draws forth women will build community. Any strengthening of community strengthens everything else.
How it's going
Two years into the program, at nearly 500 filters, we have plenty to celebrate: The program is successful!
Nearly 500 filters have been placed in 13 different congregations, via the sponsorship and leadership of various US congregations and individuals. In a recently conducted study, the mothers report complete satisfaction with the filters. 100% claim that their families are free of intestinal parasites. We see signs of improved health in the poorest children: kids we have known for years as listless, underweight, and constantly complaining of parasite symptoms, now show signs of thriving. Their moms and teachers tell us they see a remarkable difference. Only one filter is known to have been retrieved from a family because of irresponsibility. The women, according to one another’s witness, are faithful to the ministry model (everyone in the neighborhood understands the expectations and looks to see the results.) Throughout the neighborhood, residents know about and ask for the filters. Training is now conducted by Honduran women, alumnae of the program. Sponsoring “Mission Teams” from the US enjoy their support role, and the interaction and relationship building that are a part of their experience. The first group of trainers has become so immersed in their ministry that they now continue the training and distribution without the support of US teams--the team brings in more filters than can be distributed during their visit, and entrusts them to the women for the expansion of the ministry in other congregations.. Agua con Bendiciones is partnering with multiple Catholic and United Methodist churches in the US to make this possible.
