Margarita’s voice falters when she recounts the sickness, the suffering of elders, the mothers sitting helpless in health centers with fevered children—the situation before safe water. And perhaps just as painful were the years of being overlooked, being dismissed by officials who deemed her community too remote. Too far. Too poor. Too small. Just too hard to reach. But Margarita was not too proud to lead a charge anyway. To seek out help. To gather support. And when someone finally listened, Cova was there. Is still there. Simple water treatment means safe water now flows. There’s a resilience in the air. There must be something in the water.

The piped water system that delivers safe water to Edmundo’s small family coffee and honey farm includes a community water tank and Cova’s simple in-line chlorinator to treat the water so that it is safe to drink. As a past president of the community water board, Edmundo participated in Cova’s water tank sensor pilot program and received an SMS alert when chlorine levels needed attention. Today, he drinks safe water from his outdoor tap with the abandon of a child drinking from a garden hose.

“Kids here don’t get sick. We don’t worry about that at all. Especially with the sensor – no worries at all.” 

Fatima recounts the days of incessantly boiling water and using a household filter to supply safe water for her family. But that was before the addition of Cova’s chlorinator to the community’s water tank. Cases of diarrhea are rare today, she attests, warmly familiar with the 68 families in her community as both a good neighbor and a community health volunteer. Today, when it’s her turn to prepare a snack and bring it to school for all the students to share, she happily uses her household water with confidence and without hesitation.

“Before, there were more sick children. But today, cases are rare.”

Every eighteen hours, Francisco makes the trek to the Buena Vista community water tank to add chlorine to the water treatment system. Installed by Cova in collaboration with the community, the system means safe drinking water for the 110 families in Buena Vista. Because of Francisco’s dedication, his daughters, his nieces and nephews, his parents, and extended family – all neighbors – benefit from the quality water that flows from their taps. Quality water is all in the family in Buena Vista!

“I am thankful that the water quality analysis comes back consistently clear.”

Gloria is a small farmer, a community health volunteer, and a regular vendor at the Sunday market in Marcala. Her Sunday stall boasts coffee grounds by the pound and baskets of bright organic produce. As a volunteer, she collaborates with Cova to complete regular water quality tests at the household level, focusing on the homes of pregnant women and vulnerable people. The results she reports to Cova allow any required adjustments to be made quickly to ensure sustained safe water for entire communities. Gloria proudly sells freshly picked lemons and peppers and potatoes fresh from the ground. Her signature kindness, she gives away for free.

Like father, like son. Gustavo and his father serve on their community water board together, working toward the common goal of continued health of their family and friends. With Cova’s support, collapsed pipes between the community’s water source and water tank were restored, and with the addition of a chlorinator, safe water now flows to the 214 households it serves. Your support means more communities collaborating with Cova for safe water.

“We want to improve our community. We want to be a community where everything is possible.”

Irma is a long-standing member of the Dolores Copan Centro community—a community long-serviced by Cova. Irma commits time to her craft daily, her nimble fingers skillfully cutting, rolling, shaping the tobacco leaves she expertly rolls into the cigars she sells for income. But she is never too busy to host a visitor—whether her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, or a Cova Circuit Rider. And nobody leaves without a snack, a hug, or a tall glass of water. Sometimes all three!

In the hills of Plan de Socorro, Honduras, imaginations are abundant. But safe drinking water shouldn’t require an imagination. And for young Ricardo, thankfully, it doesn’t! When Ricardo gallops around the yard astride his stick horse, his mother offers him water straight from the tap to fuel his next lap. Simple water treatment means that the homes dotting the hillsides house families with safe drinking water, without worry, and with wild and playful imaginations instead. Just like Ricardo’s.

Nelson and fellow community members know the Rio Caje watershed well. Over the past six years, they have planted over 5,000 trees in the hills and valleys that make up the watershed. Once at risk of disappearing altogether, the water source has gone from a mere trickle to supplying four communities with water 24 hours a day. Thanks to rehabilitation efforts and in collaboration with Cova, a healthy water source and a simple water treatment system means safe water for seven thousand families.

Maria-Elena is a community health promoter who regularly tests her community’s water quality, working with Cova to ensure safe drinking water in La Victoria. The water system feeds the school her grandchildren attend, so it’s safe to say that she’s on top of it! When La Victoria’s water source became unreliable, Cova collaborated with the water board to annex a new water source, ensuring there was enough water to serve the growing population. Maria-Elena jumped right in to learn and to serve and to support.

“I feel satisfied because I know what I am drinking. Everybody knows that we are drinking quality water.”

Romelia is a community health promoter collaborating with Cova to regular test her community’s water to ensure consistent water treatment and quality water for the families in Morazan, Honduras. As a health promoter, Romelia has seen the effects of unsafe water. As a mother, Romelia recognizes the vulnerability of children and is motivated to keep them safe. The bounty that grows in Romelia’s garden; the coffee she sips each morning; the tortillas her family enjoys together at night; the levity that Romelia and her daughter, Yarixa, get to experience – it’s thanks to clean water. And it’s made possible by supporters like you.

Rosa Melida uses a long wooden paddle to pull the sweet breads and rosquillas from her clay oven. There is plenty to share, for her family to enjoy, and even more to fill orders for the neighborhood. She enlists her daughter to help with the packaging and her nephews to take on the delivery. It is a family affair. A labor of love. Tight knit communities are accustomed to working together and to supporting each other. From the business of baking to the matter of safe water, many hands make light work.

“Water is vital to us. It is so important that without it, we cannot survive. I’d rather be without electricity than without water. If needed, I can light up a candle. The same cannot be said of water.”

Rosalinda knows everyone in San Juan de Opoa. She also cares about them. She has spent her life here. These days, she routinely spends her Saturday mornings catching up with residents who file to and from her home to deposit water system user fees. And to talk about futbol. Because, Saturday afternoons, those are for futbol! Whether she’s hosting a cookoff to raise money for the local team or attending a game, she sees value in investing in youth, both on and off the futbol field.

“Children follow our example. We teach them to value and to take care of things. Water is a treasure that many countries don’t have, so we need to take care and protect it.”

Salvador makes the trip to the community water tank twice a day, morning and night, to check the chlorine supply and manage the valves that ensure each of the five sectors of the community receive their fair share of access to the safe water that flows through the system.

“It’s a responsibility that I’m providing to the water board and to the community and right now, we are focusing on making sure we have continual chlorination. I feel good to be able to give a service to the community.”

Silvio and Maria chose each other as partners 32 years ago. She still makes his coffee. He still makes her blush. The San Fernando Community Water Board chose Silvio as their president. Silvio and Maria raised their kids on safe water, and Silvio sees his involvement as an investment in his community’s future. Working closely with Cova to treat the water is critical in this area where agricultural activities risk water source contamination. Access to safe drinking water strengthens families and communities, allowing children to attend school, parents to earn crucial income, and relationships to flourish.

“Cova supplies us with chlorine and support, so we always have safe drinking water.”

Willian has the firm handshake one might expect from a man who works with his hands. The community’s water tank rises from the high point in the landscape and can be seen just outside his small plot of land – behind the chicken coop, across the pasture, and beyond the barbed wire fence that keeps his cows corralled. The tank’s presence marks a critical step in the system that provides Willian and his two young sons with safe drinking water. The Secretary of Health uses the success of water chlorination here as an example to communities not yet served by safe water, highlighting the benefits of water treatment for families like Willian’s.