Maria Charles
Batey Libertad Mother
My name is Maria Charles, and I am 33 years old. I was born in Haiti but my mother brought me to Batey Libertad when I was 13 years old. We were literally running for our lives-- fleeing violence, hunger, and the very grave health problems my mother had but could not get care for. I have been living in Batey Libertad for about 20 years where I had my children Anderson, Eridania, and Licson. I have lived alone with my children and my mother for a long time.
When we got here, we all got very sick with stomach pain and dizziness, but my mother was always worse because of her age. When I could finally take her to the doctor, we found out that she had bacteria and parasites from the water we drank. We started boiling water to decontaminate it, but soon it became too expensive to buy the cooking gas or charcoal. But buying bottled water is also very expensive for anyone in my condition. I was feeling desperate until I learned about EAB’s new water filter project.
Now we don’t have to eat less so we can buy clean water. We can run tap water through the filter, and that’s it, it comes out drinkable. We all are in better health-- especially my mother.