Thinking Of Christmas - Oblate Mission Associates

Quenching a thirst
BRAZIL – Paulo Ehle, OMI, has spent more
than half his life in the Brazilian outback. While
most missionaries bring a message of hope, he also
tries to quench the thirst of people needing reliable
and safe drinking water.
Ehle has been involved in building more than 1,000 cisterns
in the last five years. And at age 70, he says he is not
done yet. The ultimate goal would be for every dwelling in a
rural area to have its own cistern.
Ehle serves the poor people in northeast Brazil – the outback.
It is a semi-arid land subject to periods of prolonged
drought. “Global warming has made water a precious commodity,”
he explained. “Churches and schools provide education
about environmental issues but have to compete with messages
coming from industry, agribusiness and government.”
And often those messages are self-serving. So Ehle helps
the poor help themselves to a good water source by facilitating
the construction of cisterns.
Cisterns (at a cost of $700 each) are preferred to deep wells,
which are expensive to dig and upkeep. Well water is mostly
saline, and the wells have fallen under the control of politicians
and large landowners.
Instead, old-fashioned cisterns of cement blocks are constructed.
People are taught how to capture the water so it
is not contaminated, and a
16,000-litre cistern will hold
enough water for cooking and
drinking for a family of four to
survive the annual drought.
Once a community in need
of cisterns is selected, meetings
are held to explain the contribu-
0