When torrential rains descend on the village of Brisa del Mar, Maria

gathers her three children and scurries for cover in a neighbor's home because her cobbled home of cardboard, tin and wood sticks is no match for such storms.

 

Adding to her misery of living in substandard housing is a life of meager income selling

trinkets from seashells, and having no place as a toilet for her and the family.

 

Several months ago I met Maria and with the community leaders decided to help the village of fifty five family units begin building outdoor toilets that would provide

sanitation for twenty five units.  The cost for building the latrines were $100.

 

Thanks to the generosity of GO friends nearly all the units are completed and this past week our GO team completed eighteen chicken coops supplemented with six chickens for each coop and feed for a month.

 

Facing abject poverty and lack of sanitation is the plight on nearly two billion people living on planet earth.  Worldwide there are 2.5 billion people or more than one third of the world's population lack access to an adequate toilet with devastation consequences for the well being, health, education for the  millions of people who still defecate in the open.

 

A recent United Nations study indicated that" improved sanitation spurs economic growth and

poverty reduction.  A dollar invested in sanitation returns nine dollars in economic benefits.

Improved sanitation reduces diarrhea, worms and other diseases which today claim 1.5 million lives every year or one every 20 seconds.  Action for sanitation saves lives."

 

Woud you join GO InterNational in this global effort to provide adequate sanitation for millions

of people living in abject poverty?  

 

While Maria and her children still live in poverty our GO team

was blessed to provide her a chicken coop and a new latrine.   A smile creases her face today,

God has birthed hope for a new beginning in her life.

 

Thanks so much for praying for us this month in Nicaragua.  Our team of seventeen was joined by over thirty community dwellers to lay the foundation for a new school in the same village where the team completed eighteen chicken coops.  A vacation bible school, eye glasses and medical clinic, for two days and Bible and tract distribution made for full days!  By the end of the week the team had

distributed over four hundred pounds of rice and beans to village dwellers.

 

We were more than blessed to pray for lots of people and particularly following the showing

of the Jesus film and during medical attention.  Hundreds of tracts were distributed and we gave away over two hundred Bibles.  The last day saw our translator pray to receive Jesus in his heart! This Christmas season let us all give thanks for the simple blessing of a clean toilet and food

on the table!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Larry Cochran

GO InterNational