Sick and Exhausted. It's the Water!

In Rajasthan, India, as temperatures reach 120 degrees, the stony dry mountains make for a difficult trek for Meera to fetch drinking water. 

"I’m exhausted carrying these heavy pots. While walking on this path, I have fallen twice.  Once, I fell with the full pot and hurt my leg.  It swelled badly," Meera said. 

The harsh terrain and the distance leave Meera with little time or energy to do anything else.

"I make 3 or 4 trips every day to get water," she added. "In between, I have to cook and attend to other household chores. Even when I am sick from the water, I have to go and get more."

The water comes from an open, dirty well.

"The water is filled with mosquito eggs, and sometimes we see snakes in the well. We often get sick," Meera said.

Meera thought if there was clean water nearby she could do more to help her family.

"My husband is a laborer and doesn’t earn much money. If I didn’t have to spend so much time getting water, I could grow vegetables to eat, and also sew clothes and earn extra income," she said.

But she didn’t think that would ever happen.

"We were born into this and will struggle until we die," Meera said.

One day, the local Pastor heard that CBN digs wells and he contacted us. Soon, we dug a well in Meera’s village.

"I could not believe it," she said. "With this hand pump near my house, all my worries about water have disappeared. Now, I can use water to cook, wash clothes and do other chores. It is a dream come true."

With water so easily accessible, Meera planted a garden and started growing vegetables. And to help her with her dream of earning some extra money, we gave her a gift.

"Now I can also sew beautiful clothes and earn money to buy things for my children. We can all live and eat better," Meera said.