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Santa Monica to Savannah: Students Cycle for Clean Water

Posted by Susanna Donald

Most seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds spend their final semester coasting through high school until graduation. Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman, two high school seniors from Memphis, Tennessee, are spending a month coasting across America on their bikes instead. This isn’t your typical... [Read more]

No Turning Back

Posted by LWI Editor

Somewhere in the Amazon maze of twisted tributaries and jungle was the village of Nueva Union. The labyrinth of forked and branching rivers had proven treacherous, even for the crew’s experienced guide. Tommy Head piloted “the Hosanna,” a twenty-foot river vessel. Its roof and plastic... [Read more]

First Graders have Hearts for Haiti

Posted by LWI Editor

TEXAS—The first grade students at Northside Baptist School in Victoria, Texas were deeply saddened by the tragic news out of Haiti. Each day, the nine students prayed for the children in Haiti. Then, the class came up with another way they could help. As the day of their Valentine’s Day... [Read more]

Clean water to Haiti

Posted by LWI Editor

HAITI (MNN) ― As relief work continues in Haiti, Duane Zook of Global Aid Network (GAiN USA) says two of the greatest threats have become dehydration and malnutrition. Many small Haitian communities had barely enough clean water before the earthquake hit. One Living Water International report... [Read more]

“Nothing can live without water.”

Posted by Field Notes

HAITI – Croix-Des-Bouquets, Port-Au-Prince GPS: 18 34.028 N, 072 11.628 W Although this community is close to Port-Au-Prince, the effects of the earthquake are not as bad here. Many of the surrounding areas were hit much, much harder, so people are coming into Croix-Des-Bouquets looking for... [Read more]

A New Love

Posted by LWI Editor

Charl Draxler traveled to Colon, Honduras with a Living Water mission team in January 2010. Here, in her own words, are some reflections from the trip. When I saw the Living Water video for the first time, God touched my heart and I knew that I wanted to be part of a well drilling team. It... [Read more]

Let Me Tell You a Story

Posted by LWI Editor

Clean water is great, but it’s not the best news we have to offer. That’s why Living Water International provides clean water in Jesus’ name. So what do you do when the people you serve don’t know a thing about Jesus? What Christians often do is hand them a Bible—whether they can... [Read more]

The Long Road Ahead

Posted by Jonathan Wiles

HAITI – The earth shook and three weeks later as many as 230,000 Haitians are dead. Nearly 500,000 crowd camps around Port-au-Prince. 1.5 million are homeless, hungry, and thirsty. Illnesses like typhoid and cholera spread quickly under these cramped conditions. Living Water International... [Read more]

With this Ring…We Rebuild.

Posted by LWI Editor

Getting married? What if your engagement ring could be more than a symbol of your love? What if it could also provide a life-saving symbol of God’s love for 500 Haitians in desperate need of clean drinking water? Can you think of a better way to begin your marriage? With This Ring (WTR),... [Read more]

Experiencing God in Guatemala

Posted by LWI Editor

In July, a team of twelve people traveled to Guatemala to drill a well and share the love of Christ in Champerico, a town on the country’s western coast. Jenny Thompson was a member of that team. Here, in her own words, she shares some of her experiences from the trip. Our team of twelve... [Read more]

Photo Feature: The Kids of Bayaha

Posted by Jonathan Wiles

HAITI – The faces of these kids will stay with me for the rest of my life. Bayaha, the village in eastern Haiti that they call home, is one of the poorest places I’ve ever seen, but these kids, like kids everywhere, played and laughed, skipping down the dirt paths between their... [Read more]

A Mother’s Journey

Posted by Sarah Beth Baca

EL SALVADOR – Los Vertientes Safety. It is a cherished part of our American culture. We want to live in the safest neighborhoods, drive the safest cars, put our kids in the safest schools, and stay away from “unsafe” parts of town. As a mother of two small children, I am constantly... [Read more]

Drawing Near

Posted by Andie Kincaid

Andie Kincaid’s short film, “The Hydro-logical Cycle,” was the winner of this year’s Watershed Project Student Film Contest. Her prize? A trip to El Salvador with her mother to see the water crisis firsthand. She recently returned, and sent us her story. “Draw near... [Read more]

Photo feature: Hope for “the Future”

Posted by LWI Editor

EL SALVADOR – El Porvenir means “The Future” in Spanish, and one community in rural El Salvador bears that name. It is a village of about 200 people, most of whom work as farmers and live on less than $10 per day. Two Houston-area churches, Pathways Church and Fellowship of... [Read more]

Storms in Sonaguera

Posted by Field Notes

HONDURAS – Sabanas de Lorelay Community, Sonaguera GPS: 15 38.540 N, 086 11.650 W In the fall of 2008, severe flooding and terrible storms battered the northern coast of Honduras. The Sabanas de Lorelay Community is only one of many villages in the Sonaguera area suffering because of these... [Read more]

8 Coconuts and 5 Mangoes

Posted by Hannah Wiest

EL SALVADOR – Campenaro Numero Dos All Jorge has is eight coconuts and five mangoes. It is not enough. But it will have to do. He raises his machete, slicing the coconuts in half and urging us to eat. He plucks five mangoes from his mango tree. None remain on the branches for later. He... [Read more]

Photo feature: Listen to my cry

Posted by David Uttley

 “Listen to my cry for I am in desperate need.” Psalm 142:6 HAITI – The need here is so great. The need for clean water… for hope… for salvation. I recently returned from a pump repair trip in Haiti with Living Water International. We worked in communities around... [Read more]

The Africa we came to serve

Posted by Staci Abdulla

Earlier this year, Staci and Beau Abdulla (along with their children, Madison and Braden) moved to Kampala to establish a headquarters for a new LWI program in Uganda. Over the next three years, their goal is to implement 140 new water solutions. To get this started, Staci and Beau are traveling... [Read more]

Remembering Tommy

Posted by LWI Editor

Tommy Head, Director of LWI Peru, was recently killed in a motorcycle accident in northern Peru. The Living Water International family mourns his death and celebrates his life. Tommy took things to their limits. Whether reaching out to untouched peoples in the remotest of places or turning... [Read more]

Lesson in Las Palmas

Posted by Susanna Donald

NICARAGUA – Las Palmas The school in Las Palmas, by western standards, seems to be an unlikely place to learn much about anything. 120 students crowd into three small classrooms each day. A fourth classroom has been partially washed away by heavy rains. The well where the students once got... [Read more]

Blessed with persistence

Posted by Susanna Donald

Three years ago, an LWI team attempted to bring clean water to Los Bahiles, a community in the highlands of Guatemala located in the middle of a volcanic valley 8,200 feet above sea level. The hand dug water wells that served as the community’s sole source of water were contaminated with... [Read more]

Transformation in Peru

Posted by Susanna Donald

In the Winter 2008 issue of Pipeline, LWI’s Tommy Head reported on his experiences drilling wells in the Amazon Jungle of Peru (see Opening the Door to the Candoshi, Winter 2008). The Candoshi Indians on the Chapuri River are “by far – culturally, geographically, and otherwise – the... [Read more]

Women’s work

Posted by Paul Darilek

EL SALVADOR – You’ve heard us talk about how hauling water ends up being the work of women—and often children—in the developing world. You’ve seen photos of women walking four miles each way with jugs on their heads. It would be tough work if hauling water was their only job,... [Read more]

Wally’s Well

Posted by Tommy Head

Carol, Drew, and the children of Santa Isabel at "Wally's Well." PERU – Santa Isabel Ucayalli GPS: 08 28.3274 S, 074 31.0128 W In the center of a Shipibo Village called Santa Isabel is a very special well. Perhaps the well itself isn’t more remarkable than any of the other... [Read more]

LWI launches relief effort in Haiti

Posted by LWI Editor

HAITI – Earlier this year, Gonaives was a bustling port city, home to nearly a million people. As I look around today, it looks like a war zone. Bleak shells of half-collapsed buildings stand sentry over mountains of rubble. And everything is covered with mud—caked, drying mud. About... [Read more]

In the face of tragedy

Posted by Jonathan Wiles

HAITI – Keep the LWI Haiti team in your prayers over the next few days. We’re piling into trucks tomorrow to drive into the area around Gonaives, the city that was devastated by Hanna, Gustav, and Ike. Pray that we can get in, as most roads and bridges in the area were washed out. We’re... [Read more]

Hurricanes devastate Haiti, LWI responds

Posted by Jonathan Wiles

HAITI – Hurricane Ike added at least 70 to the death toll in storm-battered Haiti, on top of more than 600 killed by Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Gustav. Local authorities say that many corpses were washed out to sea, so it’s difficult to pin down exact numbers. Haiti was... [Read more]

Houston, LWI Office Recover from Ike

Posted by Jonathan Wiles

HOUSTON – Some fared worse, others better, but Houston—America’s fourth-largest city—was more disrupted than devastated by Hurricane Ike, unlike its harder-hit suburbs on the Gulf Coast. The city was hit by a power blackout on Saturday, when the hurricane struck, and more than 1.6... [Read more]

Sometimes, drilling is the easy part.

Posted by Tommy Head

PERU – Progreso is a Shawi Village on the Yanayacu River. We have worked with this people group for more than 10 years and they are dear to our hearts. We are so thankful that Advent Conspiracy has provided sponsorship for these wells in this village. The Shawi Tribe numbers more than... [Read more]

CORPI Teaching Institute

Posted by Field Notes

CORPI (teaching institute), San Lorenzo, Peru. CORPI is a teaching institute in San Lorenzo that is operated by Terra Nova, a non-profit group from Italy. Their function is to bring natives in from the jungle and train them to be health workers in their own village. They try to strategically... [Read more]

They always asked us why they weren’t chosen.

Posted by Tommy Head

Buenas Aires (Shawi Tribe), Peru. Buenas Aires is a Shawi Village on the Caupaunas River. It’s located on the riverbank; in fact, we always walked straight through it on the way to another village that was a bit off the river. We were collaborating with another non-profit that had chosen... [Read more]

Helping Communities Rebuild… Themselves

Posted by LWI Editor

HAITI – Severe flooding struck southern Haiti in 2003. In the region of Leogane, buildings were destroyed infrastructure damaged. Water wells were particularly vulnerable; many were contaminated, or even completely disabled. This was the case in the village of L’Acul, where the... [Read more]

They Asked Us If We Had a Shovel.

Posted by Field Notes

Sumbachi Coacha, Peru (0418.299S, 07654.973W) Sumbachi Coacha is a Candoshi Village on the Chapuri River System. It was our second trip to this village to attempt a well. The reason for our not finishing the well here the first time was because someone that REALLY wanted a well in their village... [Read more]

Surrounded by Water, but None to Drink.

Posted by Field Notes

Pirumba, Peru GPS: S 45°15.102, W 076°42.042 Pirumba is a Cashi village that is surrounded by water. It is also a small village with very little contact from the outside world. They don’t speak Spanish here so we simply tried to communicate as best as we could. Pirumba is our first of ten... [Read more]

One of the Saddest Drills We Have Ever Done.

Posted by Field Notes

Aguajal, Peru (04 21.150S, 076 52.293W) General information… man it’s hard to know sometimes what I should and should not share. How graphic or gory should I be? This was one of the saddest drills we have ever done. Aguajal is located on the Chapure River and is a Candoshi Village. These... [Read more]

They Never Expected to See Us Again.

Posted by Field Notes

Wiche, Peru (GPS 0412.403 NS, 07641.614 EW) Wiche is a Candoshi Village located on the Chapure River. It’s a small village, but refreshingly friendly. Though there were very few men present at the time we arrived, they all worked very hard to get the job done. The first attempt was was not... [Read more]

“Every week.”

Posted by Stan Patyrak

San Chandro Community, EL Salvador I am talking with some of the Perez children. Kaias is 9. Ana – she is 5 Wendy is 10 and Marta, 6. They have eight other brothers and sisters. And this is the river they drink from. I just learned from some of the elder women in San Chandro that during... [Read more]

His Name Was Christopher.

Posted by Stan Patyrak

EL SALVADOR You may have read this a few posts back. The two-year-old boy who died… his name was Christopher. Turns out, we worshiped with Christopher and his mother at church only a few days ago. She was feeding him an ice-cream cone (cone only) during the service. We visited his mother... [Read more]

Nine Days a Month.

Posted by Stan Patyrak

EL SALVADOR – I am visiting with Pedro Antonio Ramez and his mother; they have lived in Marro Grande Abajo for 38 years. They have clean water. Well, sort of. Marro Grande Abajo has piped water from the Hjutla water plant. The name of the plant is not of any great significance; the fact... [Read more]

It’s Not OK.

Posted by Stan Patyrak

EL SALVADOR – For the past two days I have seen more women and children at rivers than I have in their own homes. I have watched children that would barely be allowed to cross the street alone in the States walk down rocky hills, across boulders and to the riverside to gather drinking... [Read more]

“Cosas estan cambiando.” (Things are changing)

Posted by Stan Patyrak

EL SALVADOR – I am sitting with Lucia Alvarado Alvarado (yep, twice) in the village of La Planta, a rather poor community of 46 families outside of Acajutla, El Salvador. Most of the community has steady employment only a few months out of the year – entirely reliant on “picking... [Read more]

Today is Mother’s Day in El Salvador

Posted by Stan Patyrak

We found this watering hole 5 minutes from the airport in El Salvador. Down the street from Kentucky Fried Chicken. And only a few minutes from the Quizno’s where we ate lunch. Most days you would find mothers and kids filling buckets with water for cooking, drinking, and cleaning. Today... [Read more]

A Healthy Dose of Perspective

Posted by Maria

The Nicaraguan children stood barefoot and in tattered clothes as the sweltering heat ferociously beat down upon them, yet their brilliant smiles remained as steadfast as the irrepressible twinkle in their dark eyes. I was one of 21 college students who spent spring break on a mission trip... [Read more]

Clean Water Transforms Peruvian People Group

Posted by LWI Editor

PERU (MNN) ― Living Water International’s Tommy Head works with the Cadoshi tribe in the Amazon region of Peru. Head says when he first arrived, his intent was to teach Bible, leadership training and development. However, many members of the tribe were succumbing to waterborne diseases... [Read more]

Snapshots from Brazil

Posted by Kimberly Lango

During a boat trip on the Paraguay river, we saw rows of crosses atop little mounds along the shore. These undersized graves were those of ribeirinho (river-dwelling) children who had recently died in an outbreak of diarrhea from drinking river water. If only we had gotten there a month earlier. Last... [Read more]

Healing Communities

Posted by LWI Editor

MEXICO (MNN) ― Living Water International is working in three frontiers in Mexico. LWI’s Tim Mulville says that in one of their project areas, they saw a water pump mend a longstanding rift between two villages, Teteles and Balvanera, southeast of Mexico City. When the team arrived,... [Read more]