Countries
Dry and rough to the touch, Don Guillermo’s hands tell stories of sacrifice, hard work, and pride. With a shovel gripped tightly, and a smile across his face, the 66-year-old is determined to build his family a toilet.
When she married ten years ago, Alphonsine moved to her new home in Rurembo Village, Gicumbi, a district in the north. As happy as she was to have married the love of her life, Alphonsine knew she would face one big challenge – accessing water.
Dharanidhar Kumar has always been known as “DK” to his friends. But now he has a new nickname – The Toilet Seller.
The village of Banashyam Nagar is in eastern India – nearly as far to the east in the country as you can go. It lies in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal, formed by the confluence of several major rivers. Bright green fields are broken up by trees, homes, and ponds. Despite the networks of waterways, communities in this area struggle with reliable access to safe water.
As Oscar Mejia breathes in the fresh mountain air and sips his coffee, he looks around the school that’s nestled in the verdant landscape. Oscar comes from a long line of educators and has taught children in the El Lanillal community in San Antonio de Cortes, Honduras for over 18 years. He is truly committed to helping children reach their full potential, so he’s glad his school and his community look and feel different than they did a couple years back.
Today, these five little ministers take great pride in their positions and in their school. But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, it wasn’t long ago that the school was struggling due to a lack of access to safe water and clean bathrooms.
Growing up, Santana remembers watching her neighbors carry water every day. She never gave up hope that this would change.
Seema Devi was married as a teenager. At this young age, she moved to her new husband’s village, away from her family. One of the biggest differences in this new village in the Sheohar district of northern India was that she no longer had a toilet in her home.
When water arrived at Binaga School in the remote countryside of Rwanda, it gave students the future. It provided the foundation for them to dream.
When communities don’t have access to water, children have to spend hours every day fetching water. In many cases this causes them to miss school and miss out on an education that could enable them to have a better future.
This is not the case for the kids in Kisaro Sector in rural Rwanda.