Eleven-year-old Nivesh and her mother, Meloda, love to go to church together near their home in Zambia. But the burden of carrying water for all their needs sometimes prevents them from going.

Meloda’s family attends Pilgrim Wesleyan Church, but only if they’ve been able to bathe, which is seldom.

In their community, there is no borehole so mothers and children have to get water from small streams shared with pigs, goats, and cattle, to survive. Survival is all they can hope for. They can’t even fetch enough to bathe or wash clothes.

“I can’t go to church smelling dirty,” says Meloda, a widow, her face a picture of sadness. “I just think about how dirty I am. I have to miss church most of the time. I also miss it because we fetch water. Sometimes I don’t allow my children to go to church because they are so dirty.”

“I love going to church,” says Nivesh. “I miss singing. I sing in the choir.” She quietly sings her favorite song: “Give them strength for their souls. Though there is so much struggle being a Christian, there is hope on that cross.” 

“What I miss most is worshipping with others,” says Meloda. “I miss the Bible.” 

Meloda’s desires are quite simple: to ensure her children are educated and to spend more time in church. Nivesh no longer wants to feel fear of being attacked when she fetches water. She wants to go to school so she can become a nurse someday. “If I was a nurse,” she says, “my dad would still be here.”

Photo©2014 World Vision, Jon Warren