She is not afraid anymore

Carfel is a proud mother of five children. While Carfel works from home selling food items and beauty products, her husband works as a tricycle driver, and to earn extra income, he also does welding and carpentry work. Carfel describes her family’s life in General Santos City as busy and challenging at times. Of the challenges they face, Carfel believes consistent, reliable access to safe water is one of the most difficult hurdles they have overcome.

Carfel’s home is in a densely populated “purok,” or housing community, where the government provided a few community water sources. For years, every home relied on a couple of spigots from which water only trickled. The amount of water Carfel could give her family was limited. “We long hoped that the water district here would provide a stronger flow, not just a trickle.” Despite her hopes, Carfel knew the limited supply was at least something until, one day, there was nothing. The purok water sources were shut off, leaving Carfel and her neighbors with no choice but to find the water they needed elsewhere.

This led to lots of temporary water options that cost Carfel and her family their time, money, and health. She recalled her experience after being hospitalized with typhoid fever due to drinking unsafe water: “You can’t be very sure about the safety of the water…we’ve experienced illness before.”

To solve her family’s water crisis, and what began to feel like their health crisis, Carfel sought help through a local lender because, the reality is, Carfel and her husband have income, and water utilities are nearby—they just needed financial help connecting their home to a sustainable, safe water source.

Carfel was familiar with Water.org’s financial partner, LifeBank, as she and her husband had taken out small loans through the lender before. One of those loans was to purchase the tricycle Carfel’s husband uses for his taxi business. When Carfel learned of a product offered by the bank known as a "WASH Loan,” she knew she needed to obtain one to give her family their own lasting safe water connection at home. The loan allows LifeBank customers to solve their water, sanitation, and hygiene needs by giving them the upfront funds to pay for the construction of household water connections, toilets, and bathrooms.

Carfel and her husband applied for and were approved for a loan to fund their own water connection. Within weeks, Carfel’s children had access to the safe water they needed to get ready for school each day. From having enough water for baths to breakfasts and clean clothing, Carfel explained the life change her family experienced with their new safe water solution: “The water has really helped us in our daily lives…I no longer have to struggle with caring for my children.”

With no more uncertainty about the quality of their water or from where it will come each day, Carfel confidently shared, “I am not afraid anymore.” Thanks to the support of our generous donors and funders, Carfel’s worries and fears about the water her family needed have turned to gratitude and comfort because now they have lasting access to safe water at home and the health, hope, and life that flow from it.