Digging for their lives.

Those of you who have been to the Altiplano region in Bolivia know what a difficult task it is to dig miles of trenches in the rocky Bolivian soil for a water system. It is slow, tedious, back-breaking work; hour after hour, mile after mile, day after day. It could take a community up to 6 months to reach a water source 5 miles away.

Digging trenches in Bolivia: photo by Wade Alexander

Thanks to the support of Deseret Health, these communities will have another option. A trencher has been purchased which will provide an alternative method to completing this time consuming task. It will save months of labor and free up the community to work in their fields, take care of their families and complete their long list of daily chores.

CHOICE Humanitarian will maintain the equipment and create a structure by which to build a fund for on-going maintenance and fuel.

Chris Johnson, Program Director for CHOICE, said, “This trencher will bring clean drinking water to all communities of the Altiplano at an accelerated rate. This means better health for the communities and particularly a dramatic reduction in childhood illness and death.”
Thank you Deseret Health for providing support and tools to build a better future for our friends in Bolivia.