A Day in the Life: Safe Agua Chile

All the bags are packed! Twelve students of the Art Center College of Design are ready to become drops of change as they are on their way to Santiago, Chile, where they will spend twelve days living amongst the poorest families of the campamentos/slums.  The excitement and incertitude are overwhelming.  All they need to do now is focus on one question:  How can they work with people living in Chile's campamentos to develop new tools for using, storing and transporting WATER in order to help improve the quality of life?  The answer to that question will be revealed next, week by week, step by step & drop to drop.

A Day in the Life

"Friendly and warm."  Those were the students' words to describe the first impression of the local people in the campamentos.  Despite the poor conditions they lived in, they were all welcoming and enthusiastic about the students' visit.  The problems affecting families of the campamentos are not only water issues, but many others common amongst poor families of third world countries in Latin America.  The students conducted strong research to better understand the life of the families in order to connect with them and uncover their reality. 

Statistics revealed problems within the campamentos to be: unemployment 75.6%, alcoholism 55.9%, domestic violence 43.7%, narcotics trafficking 21.8%, drug addiction 36.6%, discrimination against living standards 48%, bad relationships within the community 27.8%, bad relationships with the government 28.7%, prostitution 5.3%, and other 5.4%.  Among other problems affecting local people in the campamentos is depression:

• Meet Rosa, 22 years old, married and mother of 4 year old daughter. She moved to the campamentos after problems at her mother's home.  She's very depressed and cannot wait to move out of the campamentos, have running water and a better lifestyle.
• Meet Noelia, 34 years old, unemployed, and living with her partner.  Her 14 year old daughter did not want to move in with her and stayed with her grandparents because she is embarrassed about the living situation. Noelia suffers from severe depression and is disabled from work.  If given the resources, she would like to support and provide for her daughter's studies.
• Meet Maria, 32 years old, unemployed, a single mother who used to work as a sales person at a mall. She has been diagnosed with depression.  She aspires to live in her own house and to provide the best for her son.

Depression may also affect the youngest.  When children grow up without their basic needs met, they also feel unworthy.  Even against the great deal of limitations like economic hardships and external prejudices, this physical/mental state makes daily tasks more of an emotional battle throughout the day.  But thankfully, hope and positivity still linger.  The students have found imperative to motivate families and help them strengthen their hope.  These families have strong values despite their living conditions, like Mireya, 54 years old, who believes "anything can be replaced except family." She wants permantent housing for warmth and a real bathroom that doesn't smell.

Mireya, like many other locals in the campamentos, is exhausted from using so many containers to transport water.  Locals' daily tasks are doubled by the lack of running potable water.  If this problem were reversed, a level of comfort and relief would be added to their lifestyles.  Due to the important role water plays in their daily lives, the students are committed to social change, finding ways to reduce the families' poor conditions.

Next week, learn how these families deal with their daily lives without access to running potable water. Get a step closer to innovative water solutions for these families.  See you then!

Click here for Episode 1: The First Drop to a Life-Changing Story: Safe Agua Chile