On Comfort.
Petronila is a caretaker, and it shows.
Petronila gives care and comfort to the three generations she shares her home with, to the flowers and plants that line the cobbled approach to her front door, to the tiny trees she tends in hopes of future fruit, to us as visitors to her home.
Having only just recently experienced the convenience of treated, safe drinking water from a system piped directly to her property for the first time ever, Petronila has a quiet confidence about her. A terra cotta-tiled roof overhangs one side of her home where the comfort of plastic chairs in its shade provides a reprieve from the oppressive sun. We sit and visit briefly. But Petronila is not a woman who sits still for long. While talking water access, she adjusts the laundry on the line. While talking all things family, she fills a pot with water from the outdoor tap in the yard. While gesturing in the direction of the open source where she used to collect water, she washes a rainbow of plastic dishware to stack inside.
Link above to meet Petronila. Take just a minute to hear directly from one of the more-than-a-million people reached with safe water in Central America.
Inside Petronila’s home, a baby — her granddaughter, Harline — is happily being bounced in the arms of her own mother. When the water from the indoor kitchen tap is turned on and flows with such force that it sprays water onto her skin, Harline’s happiness turns to tears. Petronila pivots to provide her some comfort. While she is not a big fan of water on this day, it is baby Harline’s life that this safe drinking water will completely change. She will never know safe water scarcity the way her mother and grandmother did. Her time of carrying buckets from a contaminated stream will never come.
In a world that can often be uncomfortable, we hope that Petronila’s family shows you the kind of comfort that support of safe water and the people who thrive because of it, brings. The kind of comfort that Petronila shows her own family.
Will you help us bring safe water to more families this season? The difference you make shows!
Comfort, Joy, and Clean Water.
Let it show.
