Dona Elizabeth Torrez and her children stand
proudly by the newly constructed latrine.
My name is Doña Elizabeth Torrez and I was born and raised in the same community. Since childhood I have enjoyed working for the good of the community. In primary school I was the best student, but because my family lacked money, I could not attend high school. I married young, and I don't regret doing so because I have enjoyed helping my family and community.
I have participated from the beginning in the construction projects of this beautiful organization, El Porvenir. I am convinced that this organization completely changed our lives. Before our partnership with El Porvenir, we lived in a very unsanitary community. People suffered from a multitude of diseases: diarrhea, stomach pains, the flu, and skin rashes. We were once attacked by the epidemic of cholera, which killed three people. All of these diseases occurred because we lived without clean water, latrines, and the knowledge of how to prevent these diseases. Children missed school because they were sick from not having latrines or clean water. The school looked desolate.
For a long time, no organizations would work with our community because they said we were disorganized, but El Porvenir had confidence in us. Thanks to God and to El Porvenir, our community has been strongly involved in the construction of a well and a wash station. What is more important is that we help with the contribution of labor and materials. For example, I helped by providing food to the mason, and contributed two bags of cement and sand to build the latrine.
El Porvenir trained me as a community education promoter, and I work with other promoters to follow up on projects like latrines, wells, wash stations and stoves. I am very satisfied with the work that I am doing because I play an active role in the positive development of my community.
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