Thank you for your generous gift! This report will introduce you to Rena, 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. Rena and her family call this beautiful place home. 

Rena is a Navajo grandmother, who lives a quiet life with her family nearby, including her adorable granddaughter, Hope. Rena's probably much like your own grandmother, except that she has struggled her entire life to get enough clean water to do simple things that we take for granted like cooking and cleaning.

But not any more.                                               
A few weeks ago all of that changed when DIGDEEP brought Rena 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/rena

Rena is 84 years old. She lives alone, but both her son's and her daughter's families live just down the road. Her children and her granddaughter, Hope (age 5), spend every day with her. 

Rena grew up on the reservation and has lived without running water her entire life. In 1982, her husband set out on a mission to get running water for their family. He pulled permits, petitioned legal authorities, and fought for years for pipes to be brought to their house. After numerous obstacles, including convincing his neighbors and the nearby ranchers to allow digging, work was finally begun on a waterline in the 1990s. Unfortunately, as soon as they started to dig it became clear that the ground was too rocky so the project was canceled. All of their hard work seemed to be for nothing. Rena and her husband were forced to give up. Unfortunately Rena's husband passed away a few years ago without ever seeing his dream of running water fulfilled. 

But Rena's son said that "in His timing, God provided for us through DIGDEEP and St. Bonaventure's. Even though my dad never got to see this, I know this system is an answer to his prayers for my mother."

Rena is overjoyed to have running water after so many decades of waiting. Up until a few months ago she had to ask family members to help her scoop her drinking and bathing water out of plastic barrels. 

Rena's whole family gathered around and watched as the installation was finished and running water came out of the sink for the first time.  Hope was so excited to turn on the sink for her grandma!

CHAPTER: BACA/PREWITT CHAPTER, NAVAJO NATION

LOCATION: PREWITT, NEW MEXICO

GPS: N34.936864  E-107.195720

COMPLETED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

TECHNOLOGY: CISTERN

SOURCE: WATER TRUCK

LOCAL ALLY: ST. BONAVENTURE

PROJECT COST: $3,257.52

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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. Benefiting 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.