UMCOR WASH is committed to continuing work with the water needs of indigenous communities. Your gift will bring new life.
CHRISTIE R. HOUSE
LORRIE KING
New World Outlook
In 2017, with his family gathered around, a boy of about ten years walks into the kitchen of his home and turns on the faucet of a brand-new sink. Out pours clean, drinkable water—for the first time ever! He is delighted and amazed because in his whole life, and in all his parents’ and grandparents’ lives, this had never happened before.
This young Navajo boy lives in the United States. Today, about 40 percent of his people living in the Navajo Nation (Diné) in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah have no running water or plumbing in their homes. But thanks to the partnership of the St. Bonaventure Indian Mission—a Catholic agency, DIGDEEP—a nonprofit human rights water agency, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), more Navajo families will soon be turning on faucets—and lights, in homes that never had them before. The Navajo Water Project seeks to bring running water and light to 125 homes in Baca, New Mexico. Currently, people living in this remote area must get their own water or, for the more vulnerable who have no way to transport water, depend on the St. Bonaventure Indian Mission truck to deliver it.
UMCOR’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program is a new partner in this venture and is primarily funding the cost of a geohydrological study to explore new water sources in the area, testing and rehabilitation of an existing well to be brought online to serve the project, and the installation of home water systems for local families. The Navajo Water Project utilizes a combination of solutions to bring water to six towns in northwestern New Mexico, including new wells, individual home cistern and water systems, and better water delivery routes. In homes without electricity, DIGDEEP will install a solar power system to run the pump and provide electricity inside.
This program is led by community members and local leaders who advise the project through quarterly meetings of the Navajo Water Council. Homeowners contribute to their systems and receive training to maintain them. The community will manage the finished project in partnership with the St. Bonaventure Mission.
Note … gifts to UMCOR Advance Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Advance #3020600 support UMCOR WASH. The project is included in the Six Lanes of the Advance and the new EngageMI.
Last Updated on December 27, 2022