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Cross Catholic Blog
- May 7, 2020
Safe Water Changes Everything in the Dominican Republic
In the tiny community of Palo Blanco in the Dominican Republic, people are praising God for the water system that was recently completed. Last spring, Cross Catholic Outreach partnered with FUNDASEP, the social outreach of the Catholic Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana, to build six clean water systems for the benefit of 813 families.
Families of this mountain community on the border with Haiti previously relied on contaminated water sources just to survive. Now their lives are being by transformed through access to clean, plentiful water. After years of waiting, God has answered their prayers and accomplished what once seemed impossible!
Related: How the Dominican Republic Water Crisis Affects Rural Families
The Human Impact of Clean Water in Rural Dominican Republic
Catalina Montera Monero is one of the recipients of clean water in Palo Blanco. She, like many of her neighbors, used to fetch water two or three times a day. “Now life is so easy. The water is right here! I am so thankful to FUNDASEP and to the Church. I prayed a lot. I woke up early every day to make my daily prayer to Our Lady.”
The clean water systems use a combination of gravity and either electricity or solar panels to collect water from a spring or well. Pumps, tanks, miles of PVC pipes and filters then distribute the clean water to local homes. Local work brigades provide sweat equity as part of our shovel-ready empowerment strategy.
Frederico Encarnación is another Palo Blanco resident who is grateful for the kindness of Cross Catholic Outreach donors and Bishop Jose Grullón Estrella, who founded FUNDASEP in 1992. When Frederico turned on the water tap for the first time, his family was so overjoyed, they had a big meal to celebrate. Frederico says, “We worked hard to install the water system, and now it has changed our lives a lot. We had trouble when we had no running water. We lost sleep waiting for water. We praise God for it!”
Related: Poverty in the Dominican Republic and How You Can Help
Donate to Provide Water for the Poor
Bless Others With the Same Gift of Clean Water
The impact of clean water is immediate — reducing waterborne illness, easing the labor burden on women and children, and helping farmers irrigate their land to improve the volume and variety of their crops.
When you donate to Cross Catholic Outreach clean water programs, you do more than just provide safe water for the materially poor. You change everything about their daily lives, transforming them and their communities.
Related: Hardships and Hazards Faced Due to Natural Disasters in Dominican Republic
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