Last January the Wounaan people of Panama invited us to attend their biannual Congress to discuss the issue of their contaminated drinking water and what Agua Pura could do to help. We traveled to an isolated traditional village several hours out of Panama City to meet with them. Wounaan people came from many different communities to spend several days discussing important issues such as education, economic development and health. There were meetings during the day and traditional dancing and entertainment in the evenings. The Wounaan people are very self reliant, organized and democratic, and both men and women speak freely and vote for their leadership. Our discussions quickly took on a more urgent tone when I tested some of the local water sources and found them to be a high risk for disease with E. coli bacteria - a sure indicator of fecal contamination. At that point the leadership of the Wounaan asked for our help in establishing a water testing and monitoring program for their at risk communities.

Agua Pura Para El Pueblo has accepted the challenge and responsibility to help the Wounaan people improve their water supply and guard theirfamilies health. We have already returned once to teach workshops on water testing and water pasteurization to Wounaan health workers and community leaders and are planning frequent future programs. Your generous support in the past has made our work possible.

Can you make another contribution now to help us bring safe drinking water to Wounaan Families?