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"Los niños y los maestros iban caminando desde la escuela hasta un pozo cerca de nuestra casa para buscar agua y llevarla de regreso", dijo Mayra, que vive con su esposo Héctor y sus dos hijos pequeños, Marcos y Anthony. "Necesitaban agua para limpiar la escuela, y los maestros y los estudiantes la necesitaban para usar el baño y lavarse las manos".

Mayra and her family live in San Antonio de Cortés, a mountainous district in Honduras with 42 rural communities. Many San Antonians practice subsistence agriculture, raising beans and corn on small farms. Others work in sugarcane factories or raise animals for sale and consumption.

Mayra takes care of the household chores, and Hector works in farming. Their two-room, brick house is in a small town about three miles from the town of San Antonio de Cortés, and it didn’t have water when they moved in five years ago.

“Tuvimos que llenar baldes y ollas para almacenar agua”, dijo Mayra.

Fue difícil para todos en la comunidad. “Mucha gente tenía que caminar largas distancias para conseguir agua”, dijo Mayra.

In 2014 the water authority told Mayra and Hector about a new water project that would include a water connection directly to their house. Hector was so excited about bringing safe water to their community, and he helped dig the trenches for the system’s pipes.

"It’s a big change having water readily available day and night," Mayra said. "We are very happy."

Mayra’s son Marcos is in second grade at the community school. "It’s good to have water," he said. "If we didn’t have water, there would be no trees and we wouldn’t exist."

Mayra dice que su familia está orgullosa y feliz de pagar su factura de agua, que es de unos 6 dólares al mes. La comunidad contribuye con gusto al mantenimiento y las reparaciones del sistema cuando se estropea, porque han visto cómo el hecho de tener agua potable ha cambiado sus vidas.

Mayra is thankful that her children won’t have to spend hours carrying water, and they will have more time for school. "It’s been a real change for the community, and you can see that," she said.