Arvina's days began before sun-up, as she fetched water from the concrete cistern on her street. Collecting water was the most critical thing she did all day - and the most variable. If the cistern was dry and another water delivery hadn't come - or, as often happened, if they couldn't afford to purchase water because it cost four days' wages - Arvina would walk with her mother to the open, stone-faced well on the outskirts of her village, more than a mile from her home. There, they worked together to draw water from the muddy bottom, one bucketful at a time. Once they got the water home, they'd begin the task of purification: straining it through an old tee shirt, then boiling it to kill bacteria and pathogens. Only after it was boiled was the water considered safe to drink.

When Kanha, a village leader, heard about the work Fresh Water Friends was doing in his area, he tried not to get too excited. He knew that much could go wrong: perhaps no donor could be found to support their well, or the drillers would have other commitments and be booked out for months. Worst, perhaps the water wouldn't exist at all. Perhaps the well would be dry.

He didn't dare get his neighbors' hopes up. When the man from Fresh Water Friends visited his village, he told his neighbors the man was a longtime friend.

Early on a Thursday morning in mid-March, a long green truck pulled into the village. Kanha walked with the geologist and the master driller while they surveyed the village, assessing several sites. Finally, they chose a crossroads near the village center, where many people walked daily and it would be easy to access the well. As the truck began to set up for drilling, Kumar and his neighbors began to pray.

Eleven hours later, Kanha and Arvina watched as the drillers threaded another pipe into the ever-deepening hole. They had been working all day, covering onlookers in a cloud of pale dust. Suddenly, the man on the rig yelled. Water came shooting out the top!

Kanha says, "Most of our villagers are agricultural day laborers and farmers, who depend on the annual rain harvest, and finding water in open wells dug centuries ago. Over the years, the surface water has dried up and the open wells are more contaminated. We as a village were struggling so much without clean water in our day-to-day lives, and many of our villagers were getting sick without knowing why. After drilling the well in the village, our lives got much better and easier. The people of this village are so happy to have clean and fresh water.”

"Our women and children don’t have to search for water any longer!"

As for Arvina and her friends? Now their mornings start with a quick trip to the village well, and a bowl of poha (flaked rice) before school. They are rested and ready to learn, and they have time in the afternoons to study and play before pitching in to help with evening chores. They get to be children again - children who have a future and a hope.