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Billy, Kate & Will in Perú

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water

Water

Posted on Friday, September 16, 2011 3 Comments

This past weekend, I spent some time with a group from England at our home for abandoned boys in Ica. Part of their trip to Ica was not just to spend some time with the staff and boys living at the home, but also to venture out into the surrounding community and share with our neighbors.

The city of Ica is located approximately 5 hours south of Lima, in the Atacama Desert. The Atacama is considered to be the driest desert in the world. There are no flies because there is nothing for them to eat. There are locations where not a single drop of rain has been recorded by humans, and dry river beds that have had no water running through them for 120,000 years. But yet, many cities and shanty-towns have been established here.

Our groups that visit Ica have the opportunity to share water in a shanty town not far outside the city of Ica, just 15 minutes from our home, in the district of La Tinguiña.

Delivering water in Ica.

The area is characterized by low cost, unstable houses built with plywood, sheets of plastic, cardboard or any available material, but little by little, more homes made of bricks are starting to appear. They tend to be irregular structures good enough to protect from the summer sun. The homes lack clean water, sanitation, and usually electricity. Many are built on land without a permit. There are very few official roads and “house numbers” tend to be more descriptive, rather than an actual number.

Straw mat house

One of the homes.

I’ve made this trip dozens of times with work teams and groups from my own church. Each time, you meet different people or go a slightly different route, but the need is the same. The people in this area need clean drinking water to live.

Delivering water in Ica.

Since there were many hands helping carry the full water buckets back to their owners, I took advantage of the opportunity to talk to some of the people that were out in the street, asking about their water needs. Many people in the area use a majority of their income just on water. In Peru, the legal minimum wage is S/. 600 monthly (or $219.62 USD a month), but I suspect that most people in this particular area are earning their income “off the books” and not necessarily earning a full S/. 600.

So how much does water cost? Once a month, the government provides free water to the people in La Tinguiña. If a family of 4 is lucky to have an above ground well or tank, this water will last about a week. The other three weeks out of the month, they have to buy their own water. Water that is being used to bathe, wash, cook and clean.

The large black tank costs about S/. 15, and lasts about a week. ($5.49 USD)
Straw mat house

The 55-gallon drum outside of this house costs about S/. 3 to fill ($1.09 USD).
Water storage.

Each of these buckets or tubs cost about .50 centimos to fill (0.18 USD)
Water storage.

To freely provide this basic need to our neighbors in La Tinguiña, we rent a truck and fill it with water. The better part of an afternoon is spent walking through the dusty streets of La Tinguiña calling out “Agua! Agua! Necesitas agua?”

The truck rental, the driver’s time and 7000 liters of water costs S/. 100 ($36.60 USD)
Delivering water in Ica.

But our work does not end here. While we satisfied the need of physical water, there is still the need for spiritual water. We know that God pours his spirit into us, filling us with the living, eternal water (John 4:13-14). Or, that while the physical water can run out and our tongues are parched, God does not abandon us (Isaiah 41:17). I was encouraged to hear some of the people that received our free water thanking God for the gift, and one even saying that God had answered her prayer. I pray that the others in this area will discover the living water and have the same reaction the next time.

We simply cannot survive on one or the other.

Posted in: Peru | Tagged: Ica, Peru, photo, Scripture Union, Tinguiña, water

Water

Posted on Saturday, July 3, 2010 Leave a Comment

A unique opportunity work teams that visit Ica get to participate in is the sharing of clean, drinking water with an underserved area of the city. Each year, our group rents a truck, hires a driver and buys 10,000 liters of water to share with the people of Alta La Tinguiña, a shanty town neighborhood not too far from where our abandoned boys home is located – all for about $35.

For many people we encounter on the trip, this water is crucial, the difference between being healthy and ill. They can spend up to half of their income on water alone, and the truck does not come through these parts too frequently. The water they buy (or receive from us) is essential to their life and is used for cooking, drinking, bathing and cleaning.

In the States, we take water for granted. I know that every morning when I wake up, there will be water in the shower (hot water, not just water) and there will be clean water from the kitchen faucet. We water our lawns to make sure they don’t turn yellow in the excessive summer heat.

Last year during one of my visits to the medical clinic Scripture Union operates in Iquitos, one of the doctors told me that the majority of the patients they treat have parasites or illnesses that come from not using clean water to cook or drink. He said that if people would have access to clean water, they would not have as many health problems and it would help solve some of the problem.

We equate delivering this clean water as Jesus being the living water of our lives. Without Jesus, life is just more difficult, we might fall ill, or have complications, but with the living water running through us, all things are possible. When somebody thanks me as a gringa for filling their buckets with water, I let them know that it isn’t me giving them water, but God. Yes, I paid for the water, the truck rental, the driver, but I was given the ability to do so from God. And only from His blessing am I able to share with others what He has given me.


Delivering Water, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Sarah, sitting on the back of the water truck.


Sarah, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

A bucket full of clean drinking water.


Water Bucket, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Delivering Water, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Delivering Water, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

An old container that is now being used to store water. This was originally used to store phosphoric acid.


Water Bucket, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.
Posted in: Peru | Tagged: desert, Ica, Peru, photos, Scripture Union, video, water

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Happy Father’s Day @greenmanbilly! The legacy yo Happy Father’s Day @greenmanbilly! The legacy you are creating for Will and the example you show him daily of how to be a father and husband is our greatest blessing. We love you. #littlewilliamnoah
A lovely evening watching the national ballet perf A lovely evening watching the national ballet perform Cinderella and Will’s first show at the @granteatronacional. #littlewilliamnoah
Ended our trip with a hike and horseback ride to s Ended our trip with a hike and horseback ride to see the Gocta waterfall up close. #littlewilliamnoah #ytúquéplanes
Headed west to Amazonas to see deep canyons, the t Headed west to Amazonas to see deep canyons, the town of Chachapoyas and the sarcophagi of Karajía #littlewilliamnoah #ytúquéplanes
A castle in the jungle built by an Italian and a c A castle in the jungle built by an Italian and a car raft to cross the Rio Huallaga to Laguna Azul were two firsts for us in Tarapoto. #littlewilliamnoah #ytúquéplanes
Spent a few days in the jungle outside the city of Spent a few days in the jungle outside the city of Tarapoto for @wngreenman’s first Peruvian jungle experience. #littlewilliamnoah #ytúquéplanes
Bubbles in the park today vs. 2019☺️ #littlewi Bubbles in the park today vs. 2019☺️ #littlewilliamnoah
Today was the first day of school and can’t beli Today was the first day of school and can’t believe we have a Kindergartener! After 2 years of virtual school, Will didn’t have to log into Zoom and was able to walk through the doors of the school and met his new teacher, Miss Magy, in person! We’re excited to see what he learns this year and he’s thrilled to be back in a classroom for the first time since March 2020! #littlewilliamnoah @coloringdreamsperu
Ending the 5th birthday celebrations for our loved Ending the 5th birthday celebrations for our loved little boy with a picnic party in the park with friends in Lima #littlewilliamnoah
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