Compassion Flash

Photojournalist, director, producer, and editor for all media.

Compassion Flash is a photojournalism and fundraising platform designed to inspire you to participate, volunteer, and donate to causes worldwide. Based out of Los Angeles, California, Compassion Flash operates internationally, covering stories worldwide. Compassion Flash focuses on telling stories about social impact and organizations doing unique work to uplift people and create positive change. Compassion Flash's perspective is through a lens of truth and integrity to spread positive news worldwide. 

 While on assignment for Compassion Flash, they asked me to document the NGO's impact, Water4Life Global, and dig deep into an exciting story related to this organization. After spending time in the field with this nonprofit and the communities they serve, I found the story. I met this incredible family and documented their water journey and how this resource has greatly affected their lives. The family let me into their home and hearts as I spent time with them getting to understand some of their challenges and seeing the beauty of how close this family is.

Below is the final story I produced and edited for Compassion Flash, which is on their Instagram, Water4Life Global's website, and Compassion Flash's website. 

Drip, drip, drop, Guatemala: Land of the Eternal Spring?

Story for Compassion Flash

It's four in the morning, pitch black outside, and the wind is pounding against a tin roof. With four people squished sharing one bed, Ana Eulogia gets up to make atole, a traditional Guatemalan drink and prepares coffee. She walks out of her house, clutching buckets in hopes that there might be water in the community's water tank, which collects rainwater from the mountains. Her heart sinks with disappointment, discovering that once again, there is no water. It has been weeks since there has been any water.

"Here in the community, what we need the most is water. Sometimes we don't have water to drink or bathe with, and the little that we do have we need to conserve," said Ana.

Ana is a mother of eight children living in Vuelta Grande, a small village 30 minutes outside of Antigua, Guatemala. She and her family live in a two-room house with a tin roof, a small outdoor kitchen and a shed for a bathroom. About 3,500 people live in this village nestled in between luscious green mountains. The community is quite rural with no direct access to clean water, no public transportation and just a few shops known as "tiendas" which sell chips, water, and soda, that line the edge of the dirt road. 

Vuelta Grande does not have access to a clean nor a reliable water source. Typically families here have to wait for the rain to come to have water. However, the water tanks that collect water from the mountain, which are closest to Ana's house, have been completely dry. Since it is currently the dry season in Guatemala, there has been no rain, which means there is no water for people to drink. The dry season continues for six months out of the year. That is half the year that this community does not have any water. For families to obtain water, they have to wait for trucks that bring down water from Antigua to the village from which they pay to get the water.

"People have the right to five gallons of water per family, and the water that the trucks bring down is not clean. We don't know when the trucks will come, so sometimes people go many days without any water," said Maribell, another woman from the Vuelta Grande community. 

Maribell, along with Ana and many others, has been affected by the shortage of water in this community. It is a daily issue.

According to USAID, "Guatemala's wealth of natural resources includes abundant water from streams and lakes that provide water supply coverage to 94 percent of the country. However, surface water is unevenly distributed, seasonal, and often polluted. Only 61 percent of the water supply comes from a safely managed source."

I met Ana and her family while out in the field with the nonprofit Water4Life Global, which aims to bring communities together and provide them access to clean, reliable water through sustainable water filters. After distributing the filters to families in the community of Vuelta Grande, we did progress checks with families who had been using the water filters for a while, which Water4Life Global had provided them.

Jenna MacEwen, Co-Founder of Water4Life Global, expressed, "We are here to help these women and families to be successful on their own. When we get to educate them on water and these filters, they are then excited to take their new knowledge and educate their neighbors. We want these women to inspire other people in their communities, in their native tongue, so they can be the leaders and support one another." 

We walked down a dusty hill following behind two of Ana Eulogia's children as they led us to the entrance of their house. As we walked into their home, I was greeted with smiling faces from five children at the door. 

I entered into the smoke-filled kitchen where Ana was cooking rice, beans and tortillas over an open fire. We began to talk, and she shared with me a small slice of her life. When I told her I was interested in interviewing her and digging deeper into her story, she immediately started bursting in tears. I could feel her pain, gently hugging her. This made me feel honored that Ana had permitted me to step into her home to get to know her family. She was opening her heart and her door to let me in and to trust me, and that was indescribable. I felt how delicate their situation was and knew at that moment how important it was for me to tell their story.  

I spent a day and a half getting to know Ana and her family. A family of ten, full of love and compassion despite their lack of resources. The family consists of Ana and her husband Esdras plus eight children: Sebastian, 3, Daisy, 5, Estrella, 8, Freddi, 10, Anderson 12, Heidi, 14, Brayan, 19, and Yonatan, 20. When I first met them, I was amazed by the amount of love that they shared amongst each other. 

"What is most important to me in this world is my children. The relationship I have with my family and children is good, and we are very united," said Ana.

From the bedroom, Ana and I watched the kids play outside together. As they played, the smiles didn't leave their faces, and the joy didn't leave their eyes. They never once complained about what they didn't have but instead were so happy for the little that they do have. 

These kids all contribute to help provide for the family. At just 8, Estrella carries corn on her head to be turned into masa and helps her mom make tortillas to sell in the village. Anderson 12, works in the nearby fields, and Heidi, 14, helps her mom make tortillas and wash clothes. These are just a few of the responsibilities these kids take on to help earn money for the family to survive. 

As I stood in the backyard, I noticed a group of plastic containers on the ground. I looked at Ana with curiosity as she expressed that they had three gallons of water left for the whole family. I took a deep breath and paused. Wanting to put myself in her shoes, I felt at a loss for words. 

“With the water we have left, we need to be able to use it for drinking and cooking, and if there is any left, I will use it for bathing my children," said Ana. 

Could you imagine having to ration about three gallons of water for a family of 10, with uncertainty every day about when there will be any water? This is one of the challenges of everyday living, Ana and her family face each week. 

Ana and Esdras make untenable choices daily for the nine family members that live at home. They need to ration enough water to survive through drinking, cooking, and lastly, sanitation. When they are deciding how to use their water, they told me that cleaning and bathing always come last. 

When they get the water, they store it in buckets at their house until the next time the water truck comes, since the usual water tank has been dry because there is no rain. They have to continually be prepared for the unknown because with the uncertainty of the water situation it's, "one day some and another day none," said Ana.

Despite the fact that obtaining water is challenging, Ana and Esdras are so grateful that their family now has a Water4Life Global filter, which provides them the ability to securely have clean water. When the trucks bring water to the village or when they collect water from the nearby source, it is not clean. However, now that they have the filter, they can have access to clean water. 

"What's powerful is that this product can go by any water source. They can go to a river or lake and get water. When they pay for that government water and only get it once a week, it's a shortage of water all around. By taking power out of the governments' hands by providing people in these communities a product where they don't have to rely on them, that is when it becomes life-changing," said Jenna.

Nikki Appleton, Co-Founder of Water4Life Global said, "One filter will clean 500,000 gallons of water. This will typically last a family around eight years, depending on how many people use the filter, the quality of the water that is being filtered out, and proper maintenance and cleaning procedures are done by the user." 

Water4Life Global has distributed over 1,000 water filters to families in Guatemala and continues to increase their impact.  

"The most inspiring part of this work is giving these women a voice. It's way bigger than just water; it's supplying life and opportunities to these families, these communities. It's empowering them, it's motivating them and inspiring them to continue sharing the knowledge themselves throughout their communities," said Nikki.

Ana shared with me how happy they are that now at least the family has clean water they can drink safely. 

"It is such a big help for us because now my children can go to school without being so sick. The clean water has made such a huge change in our lives," said Ana.

Before Ana's children were getting terribly sick from the water, they were suffering from extreme diarrhea, stomach issues, and more. This made it challenging for them to go to school. Now that they have the resource to get clean water through the filter, their health is greatly impacted.

Ana expressed, "My kids were getting sick all the time, and now they are healthy. We have been using the filter for two months, and now we don't have all these illnesses." 

The water filter has been an enormous step forward for this family. Their health is now not in danger every day from dirty water, and they can confidently drink and use water, knowing that it is safe for them. Access to clean water allows this family to have good hygiene and sanitation. This water filter has positively impacted their health, their ability to learn better, and all other aspects of life. While I was there the kids even showed me how to use the water filter and were ecstatic about drinking the clean water. 

Water is an element of life that is necessary for all of us to survive. Water is life, and we can't live without it. Our bodies are made up of over 70 percent of water. I came from a privileged background where water was always easily accessible to me and clean. For many living in developed countries, this is not even a thought that crosses our minds. However, in these isolated communities accessing clean and reliable water is an obstacle that many face. Water should be a basic human right that everyone has, no matter where you are from. 

"Why water speaks to me is because it's the start. It's everything, it's before the food we eat, the education we have, it's before we can have better jobs and be able to sustain our families, to make our communities stronger. It starts with water," said Jenna. 

As I began packing up my bags to leave Ana's home, I looked around at everyone as tears started dripping down my face. I was not ready to go but felt extensive amounts of gratitude for being welcomed into this family's life and having the opportunity to share their story with the world. What filled my heart and left a smile on my face was the resilience of this family and how much they support and love each other. Their love was contagious and is the glue that holds them so close together. I gave everyone a tight squeeze, and the kids walked me out. 

Freddi and Estrella walked with me to the road, hugged me, and said,

"Emma, are you coming back tomorrow?"

"Access to clean water is a huge stepping-stone to development. When people gain access to clean water, they are better able to practice good hygiene and sanitation. Children who enjoy good health are far more likely to attend school. Parents put aside their worries of a water related-diseases and the lack of access to clean water. This ultimately gives them a solution to sustain their families and communities better," said Nikki and Jenna.

If you would like to contribute to helping communities in Guatemala gain access to clean water, by donating just $35 you can provide a whole family with clean, safe drinking water every day. To learn more about Water4Life Global's impact head to their website: https://water4lifeglobal.org/donate/ and help provide water for all!