Building a healthy home, starting with clean water

Adrian's family never used to have clean, running water. They used to have to walk to the lake and bring back water in buckets.

The water from the lake was dirty and the animals would drink from there too. The water made his children sick with diarrhoea and parasites. Sometimes they had to go to the hospital, which cost a lot of money. Sometimes they couldn't afford to go to hospital, so Adrian and his wife would have to use the same dirty water and some herbs to make tea with the hope of easing their pain.

Then World Vision started a project in Adrian's community. They helped to provide clean running water and drainage for Adrian's home. Now the children are much healthier.

Adrian also received support and training to improve the family home, making the walls stronger and adding a new tin roof to keep the rain out.

The children now have a safe room to study in, where they can store their school books and keep warm while doing their homework. Adrian's only daughter Judith is glad to have a quiet place to study – living with five brothers can be tough!

"Day by day we're trying to improve our lives. It makes me so happy to see that things are changing, that we can give this to our children," says Adrian.

Life is still tough for Adrian's family. As a construction worker, Adrian has to leave for five to six months at a time to find work in Lima, the capital city. That leaves his wife to look after six children on her own.

"If there was work here, I would definitely want to stay here. But construction is my profession, and it's hard to find that here," says Adrian.

Adrian has big dreams for his children, that they would find professional jobs and no longer live in poverty.

"I don't want them to be like me. I would like them to live in the city or somewhere else where they can develop. Maybe one day this community won't be a poor community," he hopes.

Change can be a gradual process. For now, Adrian is thankful that his family have clean water and that his children no longer get sick. Through World Vision's skills and business training programs, there is hope that Adrian will find a way to earn an income and support his family without leaving his village.

"I have hope for the future, that things will get better. Things can change," says Adrian.

World Vision's area development projects aim to address the many different challenges that people living in poverty face. The long-term goal is always to leave each community self-sufficient - and you can support our work by sponsoring a child today.

Adrian's daughter Judith loves the new room they have built for her and her brothers to study in. Photos: Ilana Rose/World Vision

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