Community Inauguration in Joyas

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
- Albert Einstein

One of the first things I noticed when I moved to this country was the overwhelming need of simple necessities. In the U.S., we don't think about how luxurious it is to have plumbing and running water and refrigerators to store food in... but imagine for a minute that we didn't have all of these things. We sometimes joke here about how we can't throw toilet paper in the toilet when we use the bathroom but I have come to view any plumbing at all as a luxury. It is something that many of the communities we visit don't have until start working with them.

the state with the beautiful handmade decorations

Last Friday, all of us staff were invited to an inauguration in one of our communities because GB had successfully finished all of the Water, Public Health, and Micro-finance projects in this community. Over the last year, GB staff and U.S. students have been working with the community members to bring running water from the mountains to their homes, to construct latrines throughout the community, and to establish a micro-financial system so that members can manage their money and practice loans.
Today in Joyas, water is pumped from the source, filtered and chlorinated, and is available to the people via a simple faucet in their home. This water is clean and drinkable and the community members are more grateful to have this single faucet than we are to have an entire running sink in every kitchen and bathroom in our homes... unbelievable isn't it?

one of the teenagers' performances

This community is also now equipped with a latrine outside every home so the people no longer have to hike to the mountains to go to the bathroom. These latrines are quite simple, typically a cinder-block stall with a toilet basin in the middle connected to septic hole. In order to flush the toilet, a bucket of water is poured in after use (nope, no handle or anything!).

We brought simple things to this community but the way the people spoke and expressed their gratitude was so heartwarming. You could feel the gratitude and thanks beaming from these people as they spoke. One woman made me cry when she read a poem that she wrote. She was thanking God for everyone who had helped her and her community and expressing how wonderful it is to be able to clean in her home with running water. She compared the GB workers and students to God's angels who brought these great gifts to her community. It was unbelievable to hear first hand how much we have helped to better these people's lives.

drinking from the freshly-installed water faucet

Also during the ceremony, women sang songs, filled with lyrics of gratitude, and children performed skits and plays centered around what they have learned from GB. They sang about washing their hands before eating, brushing their teeth, and picking up their trash around the community.
The ceremony was beautiful and it definitely struck home with reiterating what we are all doing here.


Like most of the communities we work with, Joyas is located over 2 hours away form the city and it is mainly dirt roads that lead to this community. It is no easy task to reach these areas and flat tires are not uncommon during the journey! The dirt roads are often obstructed by huge ditches and rivers. It was an adventure for sure, and I have to say I was a bit uneasy as we crossed some rivers that had fairly strong currents. Here are some pictures of our journey to Joyas...