Haiti (MNN) — Imagine walking 15 minutes for drinking water that comes from an animal's toilet. This is reality for many Haitians.
Paul Darilek of Living Water International (LWI) remembers seeing this first-hand.
"We saw a cow just urinate and defecate in the water upstream," he recalls. "We asked [the family we were with], 'What do you do when that happens?'
"He said, 'Well, we just kind of try to move it aside and then we wait for a little while, then we gather our water.'"
Drilling a well would provide a cup of clean water in Jesus' name, but it wasn't the complete solution to transforming communities in need. Instead, LWI took a different approach. They launched their first WASH program in Haiti recently near Port-au-Prince.
"WASH…means WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene," Darilek explains. "Sanitation and hygiene education–when combined with clean water–can more than double the disease reduction that happens."
You know the saying, '"Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day, but teach him how to fish and he'll never go hungry again?" That's kind of the idea behind the WASH Program. It spans three to five years and along with providing a clean water source, LWI teaches people how to maintain proper sanitation and hygiene.
WASH is making an eternal difference, too, by developing "relationships within which we share the Gospel," says Darilek.
Pray that communities will open their eyes to the Living Water, Jesus Christ. Click here to help tackle the clean water crisis with Living Water International.
