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According to The Book of Proverbs, “hope deferred makes the heart sick…”. When you are hoping for clean water, hope deferred makes your body sick also. But, when you are desperate, what choice do you have but to hope?

The people of Rosalbali have watched as several organizations and government figures have come, promising to bring safe water. All would ultimately fail, and the unused water equipment lying along the roadsides served as a reminder of the empty promises and unfulfilled hope. Mothers with large families, who gave birth at young ages, continued to make their way down to the riverside to collect the unpurified water needed for daily life with their children in tow. Grandmothers and grandfathers, the matriarchs and patriarchs, watched generation after generation continue in a cycle of abject poverty exacerbated by lack of access to this vital resource.

Life was hard. But the people of Rosalbali remained resilient. They found ways to overcome their circumstances but not without adversity. Collecting water from the river and the firewood to purify it has taken a toll on their bodies. Using what little money they have to purchase purified water has taken a toll on their livelihoods. But their resilience kept hope alive that one day things would change.

Hope is tricky because you have to imagine that something is possible, often when you have never seen or experienced it. It requires faith.  

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”.

Hebrews 11:!

For decades, the people of Rosalbali have kept the faith and remained hopeful that life will be different, their burdens will be lifted, their families will be better off, and their community will thrive.

Imagine the rejoicing when you finally realize your hope is coming true. The end of the Proverb says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Sometimes people go an entire lifetime without experiencing this. But when you do, it changes everything. For the people of Rosalbali, the promise of safe water is a longing finally being fulfilled. Water will soon travel directly to household taps, alleviating their need to collect water from the river or use most of their family budget to purchase clean water. Where hope deferred once made the heart sick, a tree of life stands in its place. Healing Waters is in the business of bringing clean water to lead to greater levels of physical and spiritual thriving. Let us not give up hope.

We’re on a mission to end the global water crisis. We build holistic clean water solutions and spread God’s love in at-risk communities around the world, empowering people not just to survive, but to thrive – physically, socially and spiritually.

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Heidi Johnson

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