Thank you for supporting blueEnergy, which provides sustainable development and renewable energy solutions to communities from the South Atlantic Automous Region of Nicaragua that lack access to basic services needed for development. Your contribution supports a family like Nubia’s. Nubia is 57 years old and lives in the Bluefields neighborhood known as Calle Colón. She lives with two of her sons, Augusto and Ana Méndez, as well as three grandchildren.

Nubia stays home during the day to take care of her children and grandchildren and on the weekends she sells tamales. Her new water filter allows her to make tamales with clean water. Nubia says, “I currently use filtered water every day and for all activities (cooking, cleaning, washing) that require it. I know that contaminated water is bad for my health and the health of my family. With this new system, I know that the water coming out is much safer to drink.”

Nubia says that she and her family used to get sick from drinking contaminated water and they frequented the hospital. With her new water filter, the family has not been sick and are much healthier and happier.

Thank you Julian, Megan, Dan, Dale, Kate, Nenah, and Nghia for supporting families like Nubia’s.

Thank you for supporting blueEnergy, which provides sustainable development and renewable energy solutions to communities from the South Atlantic Automous Region of Nicaragua that lack access to basic services needed for development. Your contribution supports a family like Jaqueline’s. She and her husband Saul live with Jaqueline’s 66 year old mother, Sonia. The couple has two children: Jaqueline is 16 years old and currently in high school while Saul is 11 years old and studying in 6th grade primary.

Jacqueline owns a pudding shop and relies on her new stove for cooking and bringing in money for her family. She feels that her new stove is better than what she once used, as it does not pose harm to her children. It also gives her the capability to cook using larger pots, which increases her production and income.

Thank you, Microsoft and Mizue, for giving Jaqueline and her family the tools to live a healthier, more prosperous life.

Thank you for supporting blueEnergy, which provides sustainable development and renewable energy solutions to communities from the South Atlantic Automous Region of Nicaragua that lack access to basic services needed for development. Your contribution supports a family like Juana’s, who has lived in the Pancasan neighborhood of Bluefields with her husband for 15 years. Her husband, Thomas, makes a living as a fisherman. Juana and Thomas have four children, Yuri (16 years old), Marcos (14 years old), Urania (13 years old), and Nayeli (10 year old). They recently welcomed a granddaughter, Espinoza Yaskari, who lives with them as well.

Juana says that her new bio-sand water filter is a blessing for the family. “Before the filter it was hard. My children and I were sick much of the time. It took some time for my children to become used to using the filter because we did not have one for so long, but now that they no longer get sick they see how wonderful it is to have a filter in our home.”

Thank you, Ryan and Ken, for protecting the health of families like Juana’s.

Jose and his wife Reyna live with their two teenage children in Bluefields, Nicaragua. Reyna creates and sells natural drinks such as tamarind from her home and Jose temporarily works building homes.

Prior to the installation of their water filter, the family sourced water from contaminated wells, and they were often stricken with diarrhea, making it difficult for Jose and Reyna to work and for the children to attend school. Reyna’s business suffered.

Thanks to the new water filter the family no longer fears being sick, and their health has drastically improved. The family often shares filtered water with neighbors and Reyna says, “I can assure my family and the people who buy drinks from me that they are not going to get sick from contaminated water because my drinks are now prepared with filtered water.”

Jose and Reyna are grateful for their new filter and filled with hope for Reyna’s growing business and for the future of their children.

Thank you for your generous donation!

Agripina lives in Bluefields, Nicaragua with her two sons, aged 11 and 16, and her 78 year old grandmother.  Pina’s house is divided into a living and sleeping area by two sheets hung from the ceiling.  Her new stove will create less smoke when she wakes up at 4am to cook food for her two sons and nearly blind grandmother while they are still sleeping.

Recently in the town of Bluefields,  the price of a sack of charcoal increased from 90 Cordobas (~$4) to 135  Cordobas (~$6). Because the new stove uses 40-60% less charcoal than her previous stove, Agripina will be able to save a significant amount of money that can go towards other important necessities, like food, healthcare, and education for her two sons.

Thanks Joel for your donation!

Gilma lives with her husband and three small children in Bluefields, Nicaragua.  With her new efficiency stove, she is excited to be using half the amount of charcoal compared with her old stove. She is happy because with the money she is saving, she can invest in selling tortillas and vegetables.  Her old traditional stove would fall over easily and produced a lot of external heat, which was dangerous especially with small children around.  Her old stove also had to be replaced every three months. She is happy that her new efficiency stove is much more stable, produces less external heat and will last two to three years.

Thank you so much Joel for making Gilma’s life easier and better with a new stove.  Your donation is much appreciated!

Juan Carlos is pretty excited about his new water filter that provides drinking water for eight people. Juan Carlos is a carpenter and works in a workshop.

Juan’s family has historically obtained water from the well in their  backyard. However, the water is often contaminated by either gasoline leakages from the nearby gas station or from one of the rudimentary latrines nearby. As a result, the family has had to boil their water in an attempt to decontaminate the water. This has created a financial burden on the family, as they find themselves spending a lot of their income on fire wood to boil the water.

Juan Carlos is very grateful for the bio-sand water filter, as it provides a  more convenient way to treat the water. The filter does not require big amounts of firewood to boil the water and does not change its taste. The new filter not only provides a clean and safe source of drinking water for the family, but it helps lower the family’s monthly costs, allowing money to be used and saved for other critical goods, like medicine, food, and education.

Thank you so much David for your generous gift of a water filter.  Juan Carlos and his family are very appreciative of your support!

Mara Tinoco’s family is composed of 9 people including three children aged 2, 10 and 11. Mara works as a housekeeper and her husband spends most of the year out of the country working on a cruise ship.

The family, who lives in Nicaragua, primarily receives water from a local well. However, during the summer dry season, the level of water in the well gets very low and the water often becomes brown and contaminated. To avoid diseases, the family has to chlorinate their water. This overtime is an unhealthy solution for the family, as the water is not 100% purified and is generally murky after adding in the chlorine.

The family is excited to receive a water filter that they can use right in their home to purify their water. When asked about the filter, Mara responded in Creole that the filter worked well and that she was so happy to have one. She also mentioned that her whole family feels better now that they have clean water.

Mara and her family are thrilled about the new filter addition in their household. No longer will they need to chlorinate their water and for once they have access to clean, purified drinking water.

Yarlene, age 25, lives with her 8 year-old daughter and her mother in a popular neighborhood of Bluefields, Nicaragua. Her mother takes care of the granddaughter while Yarlene is at work. Yarlene is an accounting assistant for a non-governmental organization in Bluefields.

Yarlene uses well water for all domestic uses within the house. When her daughter was a baby, she used to get sick a lot with stomach pain, which is a telling sign of contaminated water.

Yarlene was familiar with the bio-sand filter design and she understood the benefits of using a filter, which was one reason why blueEnergy chose her as a beneficiary. After receiving the filter, Yarlene  explained: “I love my new filter because the water tastes good and it looks very clean. It feels good to drink.”

Thanks so much Cindy for helping support Yarlene and her family. They could not have afforded this filter without your support and gratfully appreciate your generosity!

Aminta and her large family (5 adults and 5 children, the youngest one is 1 year old) share a small wooden house in the back of the Miskitu Indian village of Kahkabila. Aminta’s husband is a fisherman and Aminta, like most women in the village, is a stay-at-home mother dedicated to caring for her children and the household. Aminta is responsible for hauling water and cooking and a result, is well aware of her responsibility to keep her family healthy. When asked about the water filter project, Aminta states: “This is a good project and I am glad I could benefit from a filter. The water my children and family now drink is safe. Other people in the community who could not participate in the project now want to get involved so that they can also provide their families with safe drinking water.” Thank you for your donation, Jeffrey!