No More Fear of Death from Dirty Water!  

Evangelina and her family live in the mountains of Peru -- more than 13-thousand feet above sea level. Their greatest need is water for drinking, bathing, and for their animals. 


"During the days I graze the sheep. I plant potatoes and oats,” Evangelina told CBN.   

During rainy season, Evangelina collects water in any available containers as it runs off the roof of their tiny house. They also dig holes or mud cisterns to collect water in the ground.

Seven year-old Nellida says it is hard because sometimes they must drink the same water as their animals. “I drink the pond water. It is not clean. It is dirty and smells. The color is like cocoa,” she said. 

Evangelia said she tries to clean the water by running it through a cloth and letting it settle. But the water is still dangerous and filled with bacteria.  

There were times when her daughter got sick from drinking it. “I was very worried and thought my maybe my daughter would die,” she recalled.   

During winter is the most difficult time for the family. The rain stops and the conditions are desert like. They set out at 4 in the morning with their donkey and walk 4 hours round trip to get water from another source.

“The water in that pond is not good either. It smells bad. We must use it for making hot drinks and soups, but it still smells like cow manure. We don’t know where there is any other water,” said Evangelina. 

When Operation Blessing learned about their need, our engineer found an underground spring as a source of water for the community.  We then built a three-stage process at the source to purify and transport water to a 1,300-gallon underground tank that we built in the community. From there, water is delivered by pipe to all 17 households who desperately need it.  

According to Evangelina, everyone now has fresh clean water to drink. “The water is sweet,” she said. “It’s also great for making coffee and soups. It does not cause stomach problems either.”   

“Because I have clean water, I am happy,” added Nellida. “Thank you very much Operation Blessing!”  

“Yes, thank you very much Operation Blessing,” said Evangelina. “I'm happy to have this water.”