Water costs

Being poor cost more. You may think that if you are poor only cheap things are available since that is all you can afford. Quality wise that is true, the quality of tools, building material, electronics, food are worse. Yet, basic food prices are higher, people buy the necessities for the day, and a result a single tomato costs more than if you were to buy by the  kilo. All this adds up to the poor paying sometimes double what middle income person would pay for any particular item.
  The greatest disparity is water here in Bocachica. Some people can't get their head around the difference. Normally a desalinization machine would be economically crazy to buy to clean water because water is so cheap, but that is not the case here.
 I will give a comparison of Burlington, NC to Bocachica, Colombia:
 Burlington, NC base rate for water in the city is per 1000 gallons:
                1000 gallons = $2.92 USD
 Bocachica, Colombia rate per 1000 gallons:
                 1000 gallons = $22.32 USD
This is the price if you have a cistern available to store water in bulk

The price for water delivered to your door in Bocachica costs a minimum of:
                 1000 gallons = $44.64 USD
if you live farther and have to pay transportation the cost can go as high as
$88.00 dollars per 1000 gallons.

  As a result this affects every part of the people's lives. We have visitors who come and ask why people don't have gardens. The lack of the basic needs increases the poverty. A hand up isn't possible if there is nowhere up to go. After an extended period of poverty to this degree, a new normal is established. People here don't see this as great need, they have adopted to the lifestyle of living off of 30 gallons of water a day for a family of four. A price that is affordable to their wage. Try and live a day off of 30 gallons for your family, and you will quickly see how limiting it is for you. The world today has the technology to make the water cheaper. The problem here is what is the acceptable norm as well as the corruption of the government won't allow for the ability to obtain clean water. When I say government I realize that it is made up of people, and that is who are corrupt. The people steal and cheat their own people.
 As Christians we are called to preach the gospel, and part of that is the works that accompanies the good news. We are trying to ease the burden and a way we can do that is finding a way to meet the immediate needs here. We can do that through water, a tangible way to help the people.

 We are looking at purchasing a desalinization machine which will extract the salt from the ocean, and give the people here clean water. The cost may seem high but it will pay for itself quickly, and provide a greater quantity of water at a better price. If we were to sell the water exclusively at the rate they sell here we could regain the whole investment in a year. This technology will actually allow the cost of water to be lowered which will open doors for higher water usage and the ability for new projects like gardening.
  The water project presents the possibility to provide water for the least of these (Matthew 25:40)
We would love for you to join in with us to make this happen soon.
Please consider this opportunity, and thank you for your support.

 We need about $15,000.00 dollars to buy a machine and install it here in Bocachica, right now we have about 4,000 dollars. Invest in the people here, and bring the gospel to them in a real way!

We have videos from Snoot photography about the water here as well, if you would like to see the context of what we are taking about, click here There are others on the main channel here as well

 You can give by sending checks to:
Antioch Community Church
1600 Power Line Rd
Elon NC 27244
 Write pure water in the memo

Or on the left hand side of the above bar click on the "partner with us" logo and give via paypal.








                 

Pure water project happening now!

Urgent~
We have a problem here in Bocachica. As many of you know there is no fresh water on the island, as a result the water is shipped in from Cartagena.Many of you know we also live up on a hill. It isn't to high, but it adds to the problem.
 Our neighbors have a cistern, and for the past year have been kind enough to share it with us. Recently, they have been expanding the project there, and wanted us to get our own cistern. The cost of a cistern is high.
 Another problem now is the ships that bring the water to us don't want to do it because the hill is too high for the pump. So it is hard to get someone to bring us water,  we have no water service to our neighborhood. The folks around us have to walk about a half mile to get water everyday now. (the other local cistern is closed) That means a family of four, which uses about 30 gallons of water a day,  needs to make three trips to carry two 5 gallon jugs, or pay someone to bring it by donkey.

 There are a lot of solutions to these problems, but the most cost efficient long term and best answer is to use a reverse osmosis machine. It takes the salt water from the ocean, and removes the salt giving us pure water.

this is a sample of what the machine may look like

 This cost a bit more in the beginning, but pays back very fast.
 The biggest benefits of the system are:

Water on demand
No more waiting and fighting with the water ships.
More water at a cheaper price in the long run.
It will provide water for about 30 + families in our neighborhood, a total of about 135+ people.
This will give the missionaries that live behind us a salary by selling the water. (The system needs very exact maintenance.)

 We are researching the best system, right now the best price for a system that we need here is going to cost about $15,000.00 USD. This will give us enough water for us and enough to provide the neighbors with water also.

 We have about $3000.00 allotted for water purification. The church mission behind is going to put money in, but we need more money to be able to buy this machine.
 
 If you would like to help with this project we would really appreciate it.
This is very important to daily life, and this is an investment that will produce a living as well as give water to people who need it. It is a small price in relation to all the benefits that will result from the technology.

If you would like to contact us directly you can do so by emailing us at: ariel.family.mission@gmail.com
 If you want to give there are various ways:

You can send checks to:

Antioch Community Church
P.O. Box 40
Elon, NC. 27244

or click on "partner with us" in the left hand side bar above


Thank you for all you do already!
With love,
The Ariels