ODW + COVA

Project #331 | Safe Drinking Water Solutions for Rural Communities

Our Partnership with Cova

With a predominantly agricultural and informal economy, Honduras is among the poorest countries in Central America. In Marcala Municipality, many communities suffer from a shortage of safe drinking water, despite having a lot of water resources. A recent national survey revealed that only 50% of households in Honduras have access to water free of E. Coli. While progress has been made toward making sure people in rural areas have safe water, an estimated 95% of water systems fail within 20 years because communities lack sufficient technical and financial capacity to operate and maintain their water systems properly.

One Day’s Wages partnered for a second year with Cova to eliminate waterborne disease and facilitate long-term access to safe drinking water in 80 rural communities in Marcala, Honduras. Cova’s model depends on trained water technicians (called Circuit Riders) who support 40-50 rural water boards: community-led management committees that are trained to manage their chlorine-treated water systems and monitor water quality each month. As water board members’ capacity grows and they are able to manage their water systems independently, Cova has been able to scale up the Circuit Rider model to even more rural communities. As a result of our partnership, water system reliability improved to 99%, demonstrating communities had reliable access to water in their homes.

Our Collective Impact

PEOPLE IN RURAL HONDURAS HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER

CHLORINE-TREATED WATER SYSTEMS OPERATING IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

TECHNICAL VISITS TO MONITOR COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEMS

Meet Don

Local coffee farmer and plumber, Don, adds chlorine tablets to his community’s water system in Suanoy, Honduras. This simple, in-line chlorinator ensures the community’s water is safe to drink, and Don makes sure it flows reliably to his neighbors’ homes.

Performing maintenance and routine checks along the many pipelines that connect the water source to the water tank and the water tank to local families, Don routinely travels many miles. His daily rounds take anywhere from an hour to a full day, depending on how many people want to chat along the way. And as a man with many smiles, skills, and kindnesses to share, that’s just the way he likes it.

For Don, serving as a community plumber is more than a service job; it is his livelihood. The small income he earns helps support his family, but the greater reward is knowing that his neighbors are healthier because of his work. Every leak he fixes, every valve he adjusts, every chlorine dose he adds saves families time, money, and worry. Neighbors trust him not just as a plumber, but as a protector of the community’s most vital resource. With a smile, Don shares, “We are destined to serve, not just be served.”

Thank you for making this possible!

Our movement is grassroots. The projects we support are led by local leaders, and all the funds we raise are through ordinary donors who give a day of their wages to support those experiencing extreme poverty. Will you consider giving $25, $100 or $250 to make our partnerships possible?

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One Day’s Wages exists to alleviate extreme poverty by investing in, amplifying, and coming alongside locally led organizations in underserved communities.

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