“To prevent COVID-19 they ask us to wash our hands constantly, but with the little water that there is here, it is not possible. I do not have enough water to wash my hands constantly ", says Gloria Leonardo Calero, a mother from Lima, the capital of Peru.

Unfortunately, the water cistern only reaches a certain area and, when she is able to go buy water, it is with much effort that she is able to get it back to her house.

Faced with this basic and emergency need, the Adventist humanitarian agency, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), in Peru, started the project, ‘+Protección - COVID-19' with the purpose of delivering hygiene kits, that include water cans with dispensers, and prevention training for 4,500 families in the community of San Juan de Lurigancho (Lima).

Now Gloria Leonardo Calero has water at her disposal and practices frequent hand washing as one of the main actions to prevent COVID-19. “The ADRA trainers called to ask me if I am doing hygiene and I would tell them that I am even teaching my disabled daughter. I like it because it has the 'cañito' and I no longer need a jug to pour the water”, says Calero.

Organized with all the biosafety protocols, ADRA Peru agents, together with volunteer mothers, met in a sports hall to give guidelines for the prevention of this virus.

Today, as the project is about to end, there are only words of gratitude and valuable lessons that will help improve the quality of life for families.

It is worth mentioning that the project '+ Protección, - COVID-19' is executed with the coordination of the Municipality of San Juan de Lurigancho and financing from USAID, since September 2020.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site