New water project needing your help: Chimaltenango, Guatemala

On October 1, people across Guatemala celebrated Día del Niño, or Children’s Day. The day was celebrated with gifts, games, treats, piñatas, and dance and musical performances. But celebrating can be hard for some children when they lack basic necessities the rest of the year.

Día del Niño celebrates children and their joy, but it also highlights the need to recognize and improve children’s wellbeing.

Guatemala experiences very prevalent health and water challenges:

• Guatemala is the number one country in Latin America for child malnutrition
• Its levels of stunting (limited growth and development in children due to poor nutrition and repeated infection) in children under the age of five is close to 50%
• Only half the population uses drinking water from an infrastructure source that is available when needed and free from contamination
• 30% of the population lacks basic sanitation resources.

These statistics represent real communities, families and children affected by waterborne illness and death every day. Even more harrowing is the disparity seen in this population. The individuals living in the poorest and most remote conditions, the ones least likely to have access to clean water infrastructure, are the ones most impacted. 

But waterborne illnesses and deaths are preventable, and you can be part of the solution and the hope it brings to children in Guatemala. 

Chimaltenango Water Project 2024

Bringing water filters to communities–and children–in need starts the solution where it is needed most. 

In one of our most ambitious projects yet, Water for Life Charity is partnering with our sister organization Water 4 Life Ministry, the Kellogg’s Better Days program, and other partners to provide and distribute 2,000 VF100 water filters to five communities in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, each community prioritized for its high rates of poverty and water contamination. This initiative will provide and empower 16,000 individuals and children with access to clean, safe drinking water for five years.

To fulfill this incredible initiative, we need your help.

In order to provide filters and water buckets to each of these needing communities we need to raise $35,000 in the next five months. Your one-time or monthly donations are needed to change lives through clean, safe drinking water. 

Life saving filters

Water for Life Charity VF100 water filters are extremely effective (removing 99.9999% of waterborne diseases), durable, lightweight, and cost-effective. They inexpensively and efficiently empower individuals to make the water source they have into clean, safe drinking water. 

A single VF100 filter provides more than 100,000 gallons of clean water, providing enough water for eight individuals over the span of five years. In that time, a toddler becomes an active child, a child becomes a teenager, and a teenager becomes a community leader.

Help solve the water crisis

Access to safe drinking water is a basic need, human right, and catalyst for growth and development. When communities and children have safe drinking water, health, sanitation and safety improve, and education and economic opportunities increase. 

So together, let’s celebrate children every day. Let’s celebrate their smiles and joy and celebrate their fundamental right to live healthy lives with access to clean, safe water. Join us in making safe drinking water a reality for communities, families and children in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Donate today to make a difference tomorrow. 

If you or your organization would like to start a fundraiser for Guatemala in your own community, please partner with us in this worthwhile cause.