Victorious drinks safe water drawn from the filtered tank Josephine keeps in their home.
Thank you for making stories like this possible
Meet Victorious and Josephine
After spending hours of their lives collecting water, Josephine wanted a different life for her daughter, Victorious, and their family. When she learned she could finance a solution that would end their long walks for water, she acted. She applied for and received two small loans through Water.org’s local partner, KWFT, a microfinance bank focused on reaching women in Kenya. With her loans, Josephine purchased a 5,000 liter water tank and a water filter. The solutions in place, Josephine and Victorious no longer walk to collect water for their household.
89% of WaterCredit borrowers are women. Women are primarily responsible for household water collection and are solving the water crisis for their families.
Now a healthy 18-year-old, Victorious studies hard each day as she works to complete her final year of high school. She explained how happy she is now that she has time for school as, before, she spent a lot of her time collecting water from a source 1.5 kilometers from their home. Now, Josephine spends her time growing food for the family—something that was difficult before she had access to water at home. Josephine grows an abundance of healthy foods like avocados and cow-peas. She waters the crops through pipes connected to her storage tank.
Latest impact numbers
A smart solution that helps break the cycle of poverty
A look at the research from Chief Insights Officer, Rich Thorsten
Small, affordable loans break down the financial barriers between people living in poverty and access to safe water and sanitation at home. Research on our impact shows that our smart solution positively impacts household finances in 5 ways.
See how affordable, lasting access to safe water at home changed Sunita’s life in south India.
Investing in water is an investment in women
Your support means women like Sunita have more time to earn income and build their businesses.
Investing in water is investing in potential. With access to safe water at home, Sunita and her family spend less time collecting water and can spend more time pursuing income generating activities like raising her cattle.
Within the communities we serve, women are the most affected by the water crisis, and women are finding value in financing a water connection or toilet. With water and toilets connected at home, women are able to do more than collect water, like work or care for family. Their repaid loans create a healthy lending system that makes loans possible for more households.
This means more families like Sunita's can experience the time savings of access to safe water and sanitation at home. It’s a cycle that continues to reach more people, creating new opportunities for families around the world.
A day to celebrate the power of water
World Water Day is March 22nd
World Water Day is a time to spread awareness to the global water crisis and celebrate the power of water to save lives. This year, we're reflecting on the life-changing impact of of safe water for women around the world.
Right now, rather than earn income, go to school, or care for family, women around the world spend hours finding and collecting the water their families need to survive. Your gifts to Water.org help change this, creating health, hope, safety, and time for women living in poverty.
Women hold endless potential and with access to safe water at home, they will turn time spent collecting water into time to learn, earn, and create the life they want. With access to safe water at home, anything is possible.
Your gifts help support our work in 11 countries,
including 3 countries in Africa.
From our Africa team to you, thank you!