Benjamin Franklin once said: "When the well is dry, (then) we know the worth of water."
Water is life; it allows us to grow crops; it keeps our bodies hydrated and healthy; it is used to prepare food; it makes up more than half of every human body and more than two-thirds of the planet. Yet, for so many, water is indeed a luxury; a gift; a commodity that forces people to take bold risks for a jug filled with the vital liquid.
January 14, 2025 | Agents of Change
The worth of water
Safe access to clean water provides vital assistance for families in Guatemala
By Tammy Marino
A treacherous journey
Many know Guatemala for its rich cultural heritage and beautiful scenery. But for some who call Guatemala home, a lack of access to clean drinking water leaves them vulnerable to illness or death that can be caused by contaminated water or the lack of water sources.
Despite the fact that clean water access is key to health and economic stability, at least 20% of the rural population must rely on inconsistent access to this most precious commodity. A lack of public funding to add proper water systems makes it even more difficult for families who already struggle with poverty to create better lives for themselves and their families.
A little over a mile from the city center of San Lucas Toliman, between the highlands and the southern coast of Guatemala, is the village of Panimaquip. And although it is so close to the urban threshold, this village — home to approximately 500 families including more than 200 sponsored children and elders — struggles with clean water access.
For as long as the village and its inhabitants have been there, it had received water from the flow of a river that runs over the slopes of the Atitlan Volcano. But recently, that river has dried up and its course has been considerably changed, forcing families to travel to a ravine where water tanks were installed. It could be a dangerous and exhausting trek, particularly for children and the elderly, who had to traverse to the tanks carrying their own containers, which are always far heavier when filled than empty.

A family in Panimaquip, Guatemala, starts the arduous 20-minute walk back home after filling their water jugs.
“People from the community used to walk downhill for about 15 to 20 minutes to a water stream where they could collect water to be brought to their homes,” said Oscar Tuch, Unbound regional reporter. “This walk was dangerous, especially for elders and pregnant women because of the incline of the dirt road, making it very easy for them to slip and fall. At the same time, the location of the stream can be lonely, and it was dangerous for the little and young girls collecting water.”
Finding another way
In the village, there is a group of mothers called “Working Women of Unbound,” a mothers group developed to provide personalized attention to each sponsored child or elder or scholarship recipient. The group also convenes to discuss greater community needs.
Brenda, a 38-year-old mom of three who also serves as the coordinator for the Working Women of Unbound group, knew that the walk to the ravine was a dangerous one. She saw a young girl once fall and slide when she tried to collect water from the ravine. She knew it was time for her and the other mothers to take action.

Brenda and the Working Women of Unbound mothers group meet regularly and decided as a group that improved access to water would be a top priority.
“Because it is the vital liquid, we see that it is very important for everyone,” Brenda said. “If we find ourselves without vital liquid, what can we do? And we who work in the kitchen, work with our children, look after them … it is very, very essential to have it, and that is why we work directly so that [it] reaches the closest to our homes.”
Soon after, the group met to discuss how they could bring two tanks and a water pump into their community. Thanks to Unbound’s Agents of Change platform, the Working Women of Unbound mothers group was able to work with Unbound to develop plans and decide what supplies would be needed to make clean water a reality.
Agents of Change grants create space for the people closest to a problem to identify community needs and design and implement small-scale, local solutions that change the world. In the case of this clean water access initiative, the women of Panimaquip worked with Unbound to identify all of the supplies needed, and what communal spaces would be home to the new tanks.
“When we spoke with the [local community development council], they gave us the spaces,” Brenda said, “one space here in the upper part and the other in the lower part of the community to support the children directly.”
If we find ourselves without vital liquid, what can we do? And we who work in the kitchen, work with our children, look after them … it is very, very essential to have it, and that is why we work directly so that [it] reaches the closest to our homes.
— Brenda, Mother and coordinator of Working Women of Unbound mothers group, Guatemala

Because easy access to water has been so scarce in the past, Brenda's family has acquired several barrels to store water at their home in San Lucas Toliman.

Thanks to an Agents of Change initiative, Brenda and the entire community now have safe, nearby access to clean water for drinking and cooking.
The Agents of Change funding covered the cost of stone material, cement, iron, gravel, sand, wood, the tanks and pump, and the cost of the physical space. The entire village — not just the 200 sponsored individuals, but all 500 families — now have easy, nearby access to clean water.
“I personally say that it is a very special job that they are doing as Unbound,” Brenda said. “It is a very special job because they are not looking at color or religion; they are not seeing many things that other institutions would often see. It is a family.”
More about Agents of Change
Since 2017, Agents of Change has funded more than 3,600 initiatives across Latin America, Africa and Asia. In 2024, Unbound disbursed $471,200 in Agents of Change funding, and $51,000 went to 71 projects focused on access to water (four in Guatemala), impacting more than 37,000 families. Learn more about the various Agents of Change initiatives and consider making your donation today.
Unbound Regional Reporter Oscar Tuch and Field Communications Director Henry Flores contributed information and photos for this story.