Economic potential stories

Together, we've empowered millions of people with access to safe water and sanitation. We invite you to meet some of them and read their stories.

All stories
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And so she sews

Margaret enthusiastically shared her excitement about having access to water just steps from her home now. For a loan of 50,000 Kenyan Shillings (about $500) Margaret has two rain storage tanks with gutters on her home that can carry water down to the tanks.

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From poverty to possibility: Chumki's story

Water.org's President and Chief Operating Officer, Vedika Bhandarkar, describes how financial inclusion for women and families in need of water can change their lives. Through the story of Chumki who used a small, affordable loan to give her family water, Vedika explains how time spent collecting water can now be used to increase household income.

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Alice saves money and her family

Alice and her family rely on the food her livestock, plants, and trees produce. In the same way, these things rely on Alice to give them water. So how does one living in rural Kenya get enough water to not only provide for their family’s needs but to also keep their plants and animals healthy? For a time, Alice had to piece together water from various sources.

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Empower families in Peru with safe water and toilets

Together we've empowered millions of people in need of safe water and sanitation in Peru. Through small, affordable lives are being changed and futures are bright. Read more about how Water.org is working with local partners in Peru to bring families the water connections and toilets they need to live hopeful, healthy lives.

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Water for Daniel's family

Daniel and his wife, Dorcus, found their family's safe water solution through Water.org’s partner bank in Kenya. Daniel and Dorcus took out a small loan through Equity Bank to purchase a rain storage tank. Read how access to safe water through this tank has changed their lives.

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Empowering families in Kenya with access to water

Beautiful and lively, Kenya boasts a culture of tradition and hospitality, yet it continues to struggle with one of the world’s greatest challenges—access to water for all. Meet some of the families whose lives have been changed through our smart solutions.

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Grace and Josh
For her farm and family

Grace is wise and driven. She is a mother of four children, a grandmother to eight, and she is recognized by many in her community, and across Kenya, as an exemplary farmer and businesswoman. Grace credits her success to financing and the opportunities small, affordable loans make possible - like safe water for her farm and family.

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Water for his family and his village

Bakari is a young man who lives in rural Tanzania south of Dar es Salaam with his parents and siblings. Growing up in this region Bakari is all too familiar with the water crisis. Read more about how Bakari solved his family's water crisis and that of many in his village.

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Nelly's heart

Water is a smart investment. The best investment the world can make to reduce disease, increase income, keep kids in school, and change lives. Nelly believed this to be true, and now she knows it for a fact. Thanks to Water.org’s smart solution known as WaterCredit, the hardworking, loving, single mom who wanted to give her family safe water and a better life was able to do it.

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Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6

Mechanisms that strategically use donor finance to catalyze private investment – often referred to as “blended finance” – will be critical to filling the financing gap that exists to solve the global water crisis. Water.org is well-poised to help the global community move forward. Learn more from Water.org’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Vedika Bhandarkar as she explains how blended finance is a solution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for achieving global access to safe water and sanitation.

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Padma's story
Access to water and sanitation creates time and opportunity

Evidence found through Water.org’s programs demonstrates that household access to water and/or sanitation can liberate anywhere from six to 14 hours a week to be reallocated from tending to water and sanitation needs to however an individual chooses. While not every person with access to improved water and/or sanitation ultimately opts to use this extra time to earn additional income, the majority of people empowered through the work of Water.org direct their newly-freed time towards income-generating activities.

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Matthews
Water for Matthews' family

In partnership with Water.org, Matthews’ local bank offered small, affordable loans for water connections and toilets. The amount Matthews and Butukan paid for water at the kiosk far exceeded what could be payments toward a long-term water solution in their home. Matthews decided to finance a water connection.

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Together, we can empower more families with safe water.

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