Erin Wilson 
Mom, I’m thirsty.
Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom, I’m thirsty.
Mom. Mommy. I’m thirsty, Mom.
Mooooooooommy, can I have a drink?
Maybe you’re driving in the car, and know you’ll be pulling off to a rest stop in two minutes. Maybe you’re stirring dinner, and you just need a couple more seconds so the food doesn’t catch and burn on the bottom of the pot. Or maybe you’re so engrossed in a TV show that you don’t even register your child’s request until a break in the drama.
But as soon as you can, you stop what you’re doing and get your child a drink.
Of course you do. Love does that.
For moms in some of the displacement camps around Fallujah, it’s not that simple. Their little ones are thirsty, but there is nothing to drink.
After fleeing home and escaping the violence of ISIS, they thought things would be better outside the war zone. But as you may already know—it hasn’t exactly turned out that way.
Families have traded the fear of dying by bomb blast or bullet for the fear of dying from hunger or thirst.
This week, though, you showed up in the desert with water tanks. The men who installed the tanks worked through the night—not only because we encouraged them to work quickly, but because it was a little cooler working in the night air!
Cement pads poured, and welded frames secured into place, the tanks were ready for the daily delivery of water. And now, you are showing up to these camps every day, in the form of a water tanker carrying 13,000 liters of fresh water.
Now moms can give their thirsty children a drink of water. But more than that, as the water trucks roll in each day, you relieve moms of that gnawing fear. You reduce their unbearable burden of stress and deliver hope.
You are giving displaced families the ability to hold on a little longer, until they can return home. You are showing up in the middle of the desert with a cup of water, and tangibly demonstrating that they have not been forgotten.
On behalf of every relieved mom, and every child spared unrelenting thirst… thank you!
Help us continue providing food and clean water for displaced families around Fallujah!
