Edileuza's classroom: Where safe water and learning come together
Edileuza is a respected leader and educator in her rural mountain community of Lagoa Verde, located in Northeast Brazil. For the past 24 years, she has dedicated her life to teaching the children of this remote village at the small but vital Manuel Mares Rural School.
Edilueza enjoys the early mornings with her students when their energy is high and they are ready to learn.
As the primary teacher in the region, Edileuza has positively influenced hundreds of children’s lives—teaching ten to fifteen students of varying ages, all in one classroom, year after year. The school, nestled high above the coffee farms their families tend to, operates with limited resources but abundant heart. Together with her friend and colleague Eliene, who prepares nutritious meals each day, Edileuza ensures the school is a place of growth, care, and hope.
The view from Manuel Mares Rural School looking out over the surrounding land, where many of the students' families tend to coffee farms.
Every morning, while Edileuza prepares lessons for the students, Eliene cooks lunch using fresh, locally grown ingredients. During breaks between reading and math lessons, the children enjoy these healthy meals and drink safe water from filtered dispensers—just like the ones many now have at home. But it wasn’t always this way.
The water cisterns in the school have a ceramic filtration device within them that helps purify stored rainwater.
“When I first arrived here 24 years ago, there was no piped water,” Edileuza recalls. “Water had to be brought to the school on the backs of animals. People collected it from a spring and carried it here. At that time, we didn’t even have electricity, which made things even more difficult.”
Today, thanks to advancements like water pumps, safe water reaches the school more efficiently. That’s why Edileuza makes water education a key part of her curriculum. “Water is an essential resource for the life of all living beings,” she tells her students as she encourages them to drink safe water and practice good hygiene.
To keep up with her students of all ages, Edileuza shared that, throughout the school days, she enjoys warm cups of coffee made fresh with beans grown and roasted in the community.
Edileuza sees a clear link between safe water and a child’s ability to learn. “Access to safe water is essential not only for health but also for education,” she says. “Health and education are deeply related.” Edileuza believes that for a child to develop and attend school regularly, they need to be healthy, and water plays a crucial role in that.
After a long day of school, Nailton enjoys a glass of safe water provided by his mother at home.
Children like Nailton are thriving because of these connections between education, community support, and access to safe water. Through our work to bring small loans for water and sanitation solutions to families in this region, Nailton’s family was able to finance a rainwater storage tank that sustains them through the dry seasons. Now, Nailton never has to miss school due to a water-related illness or go without safe water—a necessity for staying healthy, focused, and ready to learn from Ms. Edileuza.
Of all the lessons Edileuza teaches, one always stands out: the importance of water. It’s a message that resonates deeply, especially in a place where access was once so scarce. “Water is an essential resource for the life of all living beings,” she says simply—and powerfully.
Edileuza's class took a break to enjoy some playtime and lunch.
Thanks to your support, students like Nailton and educators like Edileuza are building a healthy, bright future—one where families have access to safe water, children can go to school, and everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Learn more about how small loans help bring safe water, improved health, and lasting opportunities to families and schools like those in Lagoa Verde.
Students at Manuel Mares Rural School exit the building to catch the bus that takes them all home each day.
