Clean Water Program
MdC provides clean drinking water to communities in the border city of San Luis Río Colorado in Sonora, Mexico. The clean water we provide helps families stay hydrated and reduce sugar consumption, improving overall health.
A family brings bottles to fill at our clean water pump.
A boy brings clean water back from our pump to his family.
Clean water is a NECESSITY
Lack of access to clean water forces families in the communities we serve to choose between buying water or going without. Proper hydration is essential in San Luis RC, where summer temperatures regularly top 110°F. People need to drink around 8-10 cups of water a day to stay healthy in the heat. When people don’t drink water in hot climates like Mexico, they experience dehydration, which can lead to serious medical problems if not addressed. The biggest risks of dehydration are heat stroke and other heat illnesses. Many people in the communities we serve live without air conditioning, which makes staying hydrated important for avoiding these illnesses.
Drinking unclean water also carries health risks. Contaminated water causes the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio, all of which are extremely dangerous for the people we work with, who have limited healthcare.
A common substitute for water in Mexico is Coke because the cost is similar and the cultural perception is that it is more refreshing. However, this also causes health problems because of soda’s high sugar content. In the communities we serve, we see a high prevalence of cavities, obesity, and diabetes that is linked to high soda consumption.
To prevent the problems caused by lack of clean water, we make it accessible to families through a water pump and water deliveries.
Water for the Besitos Community
Fabiola demonstrates our blue box water filling station. She is a member of the Besitos community and manages our Besitos water program.
A boy carries water for his family home in a handmade cart.
Blue Box Filling Station
In the Besitos community where a majority of the families in our program reside, we run a water filling station that is open five days a week. We provide between 1-5 jugs per family and they come to the station to fill them when they are empty. We charge a nominal 2 pesos (10¢ USD) per jug, but if they cannot afford it we provide the water at no charge.
To implement this program, we hired help Fabiola, a member of the Besitos community, as our water distribution coordinator. Fabiola lives only a few houses from our water station and is able to spend time with her children while managing the program.
Similar to Fabiola, MdC makes every effort to hire staff from the communities we work in so that we can empower people through employment. Hiring in Besitos is an important way we build community and invest in the future of the families that live there.
A family walks to our water filling station.
A woman fills her truck with clean water from our pump.
Education to reduce Soda consumption
The high sugar content in soda leads to health issues including diabetes, obesity, and cavities.
Education at our medical fairs and programs focused on reducing soda consumption is having an impact. We have seen a significant decrease in soda from survey’s done at our medical fairs. At our April 2021 medical fair, 64% of the families reported drinking soda and some as much as 2L per day. Almost 100% of the same patients at our November 2021 reported drinking less soda. Education, knowledge, and providing easy access to clean water in the community gives people an alternative to soda consumption.
Education programs are a key part of our strategy to improve community health. At our weekly Super Saturday event, we run health seminars to teach community members about the importance of exercise and about eating and drinking healthy foods and beverages. Improvements in the health of our community members continue as we model healthy eating through the foods that we serve and provide. Today, all the families in our programs understand that soda is unhealthy because of its high sugar content, empowering them to choose to improve their health by drinking water.
Water for the Farming Community
Children drink from a freshly filled tank.
Lupita is the oldest member of the farming community.
The Farming Community
MdC also delivers water each week to families in a farming community south of San Luis Rio Colorado called Campillo #1. These families live beside the fields where they work picking crops. Onion, broccoli, and asparagus are common vegetables that are picked seasonally. The families in this community often experience even more severe poverty than the Besitos community because of the distance from the city (more than 20 minutes by car), lack of education, and generational poverty. Most homes lack electricity, there is no indoor plumbing, and meals are prepared and cooked outside. Families rely on MdC filling their jugs and large tanks for their water supply. We deliver water to over 25 families every week.
One of the families we provide water for is Lupita and Mario. Lupita is the oldest member of the community and Mario is her son. Mario often has to miss work to take care of her. Our team has gotten to know Lupita well and is always encouraged by her joyful presence.
Water delivery is the main service we provide this community. While we do not currently have the resources to run the same level of detailed programs that we provide in the Besitos community, we hope to expand our work here in the future. Already, we have planned to include the farming community in our upcoming medical fair.
Carrying a water jug filled from the water truck.
Carlos, the owner of our delivery company, fills a water jug for a family.
Water Delivery Truck
To deliver water to the farming community, we hired Carlos, who owns a water business in the area. We make every effort to support local businesses when choosing suppliers for our programs. Carlos drives to the home of each family in our program every week to fill their water tanks and/or jugs. Every other week, David Rios, MdC’s water delivery coordinator, joins Carlos with his family to help deliver water. David’s favorite part of his work is building relationships with families in the community. Together, Carlos and David help us provide water that supports the community’s health.
Help Support our Water Programs
Our water program costs $1,200 a month. Donations to MdC help support the water program by giving us the funds to continue buying water for the Besitos and farming communities we serve. If you would like to support the program, click the button below. If you would like, you can designate your donation for the water program.