Without Water, We Are Nothing
María Osorio Osorio, a 41-year-old Indigenous Maya woman from the municipality of Santa María Chiquimula, in Guatemala’s Totonicapán department, lives without access to running water. Three times a week she makes a two-hour round trip to collect water from a well or ravine, sometimes accompanied by her children, aged 5, 12, and 17. “Sometimes we each only drink one glass of water [a day],” María said. “There is no more water than that.”
This lack of water affects nearly every aspect of María’s life. With so little available, she is only able to bathe once a week. Her home has no toilet; instead, she relies on a blind pit (a hole in the ground) shared by seven people. María said her children are frequently sick, suffering from diarrhea or flu-like symptoms on a weekly basis.
This lack of water affects nearly every aspect of María’s life. With so little available, she is only able to bathe once a week. Her home has no toilet; instead, she relies on a blind pit (a hole in the ground) shared by seven people. María said her children are frequently sick, suffering from diarrhea or flu-like symptoms on a weekly basis.
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