Maria couldn’t tell you why she needed clean water. But she needed it badly.
As Chuck Roeper, Ritz Raju, and their team of University of Michigan students (pictured above with another Cuban family) approached her house, Maria and her family were waiting to receive a water filter. But Maria couldn't answer the door—she was only a few months old. Instead, her parents and grandmother welcomed the Filter of Hope team into their small home to receive their special gift.
The family had a bucket ready for the filter. As the team prepared to install the filter, Ritz offered to hold Maria so the parents could watch and listen.