This dad gave his family safe water at home
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.
Berenice demonstrates the old hand pump by which her family used to get water from a well
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
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.
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.
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 is very proud to be able to give his wife and children a safe, private toilet
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.
Thankful, Berenice considers their safe water connection and new bathroom a dream come true
