Thank you for your generous gift! This report will introduce you to Carrie, her new water system, and the impact you've made in her life.

Welcome to Northwestern New Mexico, just off of Route 66 near the Continental Divide. Carrie calls this beautiful place home. 

Carrie has lived here her entire life and she has never had running water. She has struggled to get enough clean water to do basic things like take a bath or cook for her grandchildren.

But not any more.

A few weeks ago DIGDEEP brought Carrie running water for the first time ever.

We've prepared this report to show you your impact. Let's get started!

When we imagine life without clean water, we often think of places like Sub-Saharan Africa - communities that barely resemble our own. But at last count, an estimated 1.7 million Americans still don't have clean, running water or a flush toilet at home.

American families without clean water live lives totally different from yours. They wake up and collect water from a source outside their home, fetching it in buckets and boiling it on the stove. When desperate, many haul water from unsafe sources contaminated with bacteria, arsenic or even uranium.

DIGDEEP is the only global water organization working on projects here in the US. We're starting that work on the Navajo Nation. By focusing on low-tech, high-impact solutions, DIGDEEP is making a big impact in this area.

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Check out these photos from the project and keep reading for more information on the technology we used.

You are awesome. You really, really are. 

Thanks for sharing your hard-earned resources with a family in need. No American should live without clean, running water. Your generosity proves that we're all in this together!

Spread the word about your impact! Just copy this link to your report and post it on Facebook or Instagram - or post this photo.

COPY AND PASTE ME >> http://www.digdeepreports.org/carrie

Carrie turned 74 years old just two days after we installed her water system!

She lives in Smith Lake, New Mexico, close to the land where she grew up.  Carrie lives alone since her husband passed away a few years ago, but her daughter lives next door and acts as a caregiver and companion to her.  Carrie's son, Wilson, and his girlfriend make ceramics that decorate her house, which she takes great pride in. She loves fruit, watching WWE wrestling, and playing Bingo. Carrie also takes care of a dog that she and her son recently rescued, whose unofficial name is łeecha'ii, which means "dog" in Navajo. 

If you couldn't tell, Carrie's got quite the personality and is always taking joy in the little things.

But now, after 74 years of waiting, she gets to enjoy a big thing. 

Since Carrie has lived her entire life without running water, she's incredibly excited to have drinking water from the faucet. She has spent many years hauling water to her house in plastic barrels that don't hold much and don't always keep the water clean. With a sink in the house she can now drink freely without worrying about running out. She doesn't have to ask her family members for help to haul water barrels anymore. Now that Carrie has running water her son is planning to build her a bathroom so that she doesn't have to walk far away in the dark to use her outhouse at night. 

Running water is making Carrie's life much easier and she couldn't be happier. Thank you for helping give Carrie this important birthday present!

CHAPTER: SMITH LAKE CHAPTER, NAVAJO NATION

LOCATION: SMITH LAKE, NEW MEXICO

GPS: N35.528471 E108.1

COMPLETED: AUGUST 12, 2016

TECHNOLOGY: CISTERN

SOURCE: WATER TRUCK

LOCAL ALLY: ST. BONAVENTURE

PROJECT COST: $4,194.69

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We collect a TON of project data; this is just a snapshot.

Every DIGDEEP project uses a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) that measures the way water access achieves other key goals like health, gender equity, and access to education. 

Every DIGDEEP project is community-led and uses locally-appropriate technology. Benefitting families contribute labor and resources, participate in the installation, and are trained to use and maintain the equipment we install.

This water system is one small part of the larger Navajo Water Project - a multi-million dollar initiative to bring clean, running water to hundreds of families in Northwest New Mexico. 

We're investing in home water systems, solar solutions, water trucking programs and new clean water sources like wells. 

Explore the whole Navajo Water project by visiting the website: digdeep.org/navajo

DIGDEEP believes in real empowerment, measurable impact and radical transparency.

We use 100% of every donation to support to communities in need. The families we serve do their part too, by contributing supplies and labor. 

When we work together, we can do amazing things.

This project uses cistern and pump technology, a reliable water storage and delivery solution for remote areas. 

Water is delivered bi-monthly to a 1200 gallon cistern buried two feet underground. By burying the cistern, water is protected from sunlight, contamination and freezing. 

Water is then pumped into the home by a Grundfos pump, through a particulate water filter and into a sink and shower. The system also uses small, in line electric water heaters. 

Each cistern system is built with the help of the benefitting family, who are taught to maintain and upgrade their system as needed. The Navajo Water Project uses local labor and sources local parts when available. 

Now that you've seen the incredible impact your gift can have, why not give again? 

It costs $14 a month to deliver water to this house. And there are hundreds of families like this one waiting for a water system of their own. 

You can sponsor that amount every month, make a new gift to a family in need or even give in someone's name.  

We'll use 100% of your gift on another project like this one, and we'll send you another impact report.