Doña Lidia: We are different now than before. We feel differently about ourselves.

Before the town of San Pedrito completed their water project, Doña Lidia spent her days trekking up and down steep mountain trails to find water. Now their new water system pipes water to every home, school, and clinic—for 24/7 access to safe water, a toilet, and a shower.

When Doña Lidia’s community’s project was completed she gave this message to Water1st donors: "Thank God and each one of you because I don’t suffer anymore. I used to carry water on my head and carry my children or hold their hands to keep them from slipping on the path to the river. Sometimes I would fall and my container would break. Now I just turn the tap and abundant water comes out. It has brought a big change in our homes."

Projects like San Pedrito’s are transforming and they last.

Every project we fund includes household-level piped water and a toilet with a water-seal and serves the entire community: homes, schools, health clinics, and community centers. Projects are community-managed so that users can operate and maintain their systems in perpetuity. Our approach is based in science and experience. Toilets and hand-washing are the most effective tools we have to prevent disease transmission, and these activities are made possible when water supplies are provided at the household-level.

Our approach creates generational impacts. Household water service saves significant time and energy, enabling girls to attain a higher level of education and women to engage in work that increases the family’s economic security.

In the simplest terms, we support solutions that provide the same level of service that we expect for our own households, for our own children.

The Water1st approach has a high return. The project in Doña Lidia’s community more than paid for itself in just one year based on time-savings alone.

In communities without water in the region where we work in Honduras, 40% of adults have not completed a 3rd grade education. In San Pedrito, 100% of school age children are where they should be, in school. The importance of making time available for female education cannot be emphasized enough. It has important benefits for society as a whole. Female literacy rates increase, giving women better skills for obtaining and evaluating information. Women have time to earn an income, giving them more power in the household. These changes are passed on, as educated women are more likely to prioritize education for their children.

Water1st believes in rigorous monitoring—we follow up to guarantee that our projects are functioning as planned, that they are meeting our standards. We measure the quality of the service our projects provide: how much water are people using, is the water safe to drink, are repairs made quickly, are water fees paid on time? We also value improved quality of life: things like privacy, cleanliness, and dignity, which sometimes only the users themselves can measure.

Doña Lidia has a kitchen garden to provide vegetables for her family. Her neighbor started a sewing business, and another neighbor opened a small store selling household items. On our last visit to San Pedrito, Doña Lidia recalled what life was like before there was running water at her home, including the impossible choices she had to make each morning as a mother with young children. Do I leave my 3 year home alone while I go fetch water?

Now Doña Lidia proudly reports, "We can all drink. We can all bathe at home. We wash our vegetables with soap. My children get to school on time with fresh faces and clean clothes. My house is always tidy. I have time to rest.” And then she added with a smile, “I even grow flowers all year long."

Over the years, hundreds of Honduran women have showed us their flower pots. There are so many measurable development goals that are achieved with a water project, so many objective reasons to support this cause. And then there are the flowers, the simplest measure of happiness.

Together, we are committed to ensuring everyone in the world has the same access to safe water that we enjoy at our homes, to creating opportunities for more girls to be educated, to guaranteeing everyone the dignity of a household toilet—to changing the way people view themselves.

Doña Lidia said: “I have daughters and they will never, ever have to carry water. We are different now than before. We feel differently about ourselves.”

Choose a donation amount


$ 0.00


Wine sales tax and shipping fees
Sales tax: Sales tax is based on your address. We’ll send you a receipt that includes your sales tax and shipping fee (if applicable).

Approximate shipping costs: Complimentary Seattle-area deliveries for all purchases.

Fall 2023 promotion – Free shipping of orders of 12 bottles (1 case) or more. You may order as many cases as you want.

Please note approximate shipping costs vary depending on destination. Due to shipping fees that are beyond our control, our suggested minimum order is 3 bottles:
1-3 bottles $24-28
6 bottles $27-37
12 bottles $37-57
*If shipping to Alaska and Hawaii, please call the winery for a quote at (509) 875-2211

Shipping available to the following 34 states + Washington DC: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Water from Wine is a very small winery and unable to benefit from competitive shipping rates that larger wineries enjoy. Wine is shipped via UPS, which adds additional fees for shipping alcohol because an adult over 21 must sign for delivery. Water from Wine does not profit from shipping costs. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Wine sales tax and shipping fees

Sales tax: Sales tax is based on your address. We’ll send you a receipt that includes your sales tax and shipping fee (if applicable).

Approximate shipping costs:
Fall 2021 promotion – Free shipping of orders of 12 bottles (1 case). You may order as many cases as you want. Free shipping promotion is limited to 2 cases/person/month.

Please note approximate shipping costs vary depending on destination. Due to shipping fees that are beyond our control, our suggested minimum order is 3 bottles:
1-3 bottles $24-28
6 bottles $27-37
12 bottles $37-57
*If shipping to Alaska and Hawaii, please call the winery for a quote at (509) 875-2211

Shipping available to the following 36 states + Washington DC: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Water from Wine is a very small winery and unable to benefit from competitive shipping rates that larger wineries enjoy. Wine is shipped via UPS, which adds additional fees for shipping alcohol because an adult over 21 must sign for delivery. Water from Wine does not profit from shipping costs. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns..