This dad gave his family safe water at home

51875841163_a8e4e81643_k

Cesar and Berenice's daughter helps on the family coconut farm

Cesar and Berenice have a humble home on the coast of northeastern Brazil. The couple work hard to maintain their home and give their son and daughter a good life. Cesar is a mineral water delivery driver and Berenice works at the local library. The couple also raise dairy cattle and harvest coconut.

Access to safe water has always been a challenge for Berenice and Cesar. For more than twenty years they had no choice but to retrieve water from their relatives’ homes. Then, when it was finally possible to build a well on their land, the couple took turns using a hand pump to fill buckets of water from the well. They would carry the buckets into their home for bathing and cooking and about their property to water their livestock and trees. This system was not sustainable.

51876084494_6e3f74ebf3_k

Berenice demonstrates the old hand pump by which her family used to get water from a well

51876126544_3b031f646b_k

Berenice describes her previous walks to and from the well as difficult because she had to do them often and the buckets of water were very heavy

51874927477_01aed26d6b_k

Alongside Berenice, Cesar shared the chore of water collection from the well so he could keep their crops and coconut trees alive

After spending his days delivering 20-liter bottles of mineral water to homes in a nearby major city, Cesar disliked that his family lacked access to safe drinking water in their home. Cesar and Berenice decided that the time had come to build a new well, with a water pump and plumbing to their house.

51876396036_768bd39bab_k

Cesar met with Salviana, a water and sanitation loan officer at Agroamigo Bank of the Northeast, a Water.org partner

The couple did not, however, have the financial resources for this investment. Therefore, they sought funding through Water.org's local financial partner in Brazil, Agroamigo Bank of the Northeast. They received a loan for about $700 with annual payment installments of $350. This opportunity to finance a sustainable, lasting safe water solution changed the family's lives.

51875945743_75be91de92_k

Berenice is thankful to have multiple sinks to access safe water for cleaning, cooking, and bathing

The water connection in their home not only makes it easier to cook and do laundry, the plumbing also made it possible for the couple to build an indoor shower and bathroom.

Cesar - sanitation

Cesar is very proud to be able to give his wife and children a safe, private toilet

Cesar and Berenice tell their story

In reflecting on the years his family endured the water crisis compared to now Cesar shared, “Everything just got easier.” It is for dads like Cesar who long to give their families safe water at home and the health, hope, and “ease” that flow from it, that we do what we do. You can help.

Your monthly donations of $25 can help empower more dads like Cesar to change their families lives by giving them a lasting safe water solution at home.

51876059434_77f3b1cb05_k (1)

Thankful, Berenice considers their safe water connection and new bathroom a dream come true