Doña Noa, mother of six children, tells us her story of progress and family value thanks to drinking water.
"Before we lived in my mother's house, we had a little piece of land that we had started to build, but we left it half done. When the drinking water work began, Mrs. Rosa (health educator) came and gave us encouragement, strength and courage so that we can finish our little house. Through various trainings, the families learned that each family should live in their own little house and there, on that little piece of land, build or improve our bathrooms, our garbage pits and drainage wells.
Noa's life was hard before drinking water. Women had to collect water from the irrigation canal to carry out household chores. The worst season was winter, when the rains destroyed the canal, leaving the community without water.
Noa's life was hard before drinking water. Women had to collect water from the irrigation canal to carry out household chores. The worst season was winter, when the rains destroyed the canal, leaving the community without water.
The distance between Pampas de Chepate and Las Tunas is 3 hours, walking.
"We lived this way for about 15 years, without drinking water at home and it was a very hard life. Going to the ravines and bringing water is not easy, the path is steep and with the weight of the buckets it is difficult, Furthermore, the area of the streams is airy and the wind was bad for us because it made us sick. The water from the streams is not clean, it runs through the pastures and the animals are grazing up there, but what could we do if it was the only option we had. Once in the house, we had to be careful about spending as little as possible and prioritizing the kitchen."
Noa tells us, before building the garbage pits, it was customary to throw everything into the river and that practice also contaminated the water, without taking into account that this water also supplied many families in the Las Tunas hamlet.
"The most beautiful thing about all this work is that families can now drink clean water and we have it within reach of our homes. Now we will no longer be suffering, especially the children and us who had to get water from anywhere... Personally I thank the people who made our water possible, because after 15 years of suffering we can live a better life, now it is a blessing to open the tap and have water."
For now, Noa has her own little house with a latrine, but that won't stay there. The next step is to build a bathroom with a shower for more comfort. "Doña Rosita (health educator) also taught us to live better, keep our house tidy and take care of what we have; among this, water."
