The uphill climb is over
Benigna and her husband bought their home in 2006. Perched high in the mountains of Peru, it gave them a place to call their own, complete with a kitchen and living space. But one essential thing was missing: safe water. For years, that daily reality shaped nearly every part of Benigna's life.
"It was hard to get water, we suffered a lot."
Benigna sews purses and bags featuring traditional Peruvian materials and designs. She sells the goods at a local market.
Safe water wasn't available at Benigna's home, and getting it was a daily struggle. “It was hard to get water,” Benigna recalls. “We suffered a lot.”
Several times a day, she walked downhill carrying empty jugs to collect water for her family. Then came the difficult climb back home, hauling the heavy containers up the mountain. The work was exhausting, but Benigna felt the responsibility was hers alone. Her children were still young, and her husband needed to work, so she rarely asked them for help.
Benigna's youngest son has special needs that require her care around the clock. Access to safe water at home improves her ability to care for his health.
Benigna was one of millions of people in Peru without safe water at home. Roughly 17 million people lack safe water, and 14 million lack a safe toilet.
In the mountains around Cusco, water pipes often don't reach homes higher up the slopes. For families like Benigna's, that means collecting water by hand day after day, simply to meet basic needs.
The estimated population of Cusco is 522,000 people.
After more than 20 years of hauling water up the mountain, Benigna saw a path to something different.
She heard about it from Verónica, a loan officer at Caja Cusco whom she already knew and trusted. Years earlier, Benigna had used a small loan to buy two sewing machines and start making backpacks to sell. Now Verónica was introducing her to another opportunity: a loan to bring safe water to her home.
For Benigna, it wasn't just a home improvement. It was a chance to leave behind the daily burden of collecting water and give her family something they had gone without for decades.
Benigna greets her loan officer, Verónica from Caja Cusco, the local bank who would ultimately help Benigna affordably finance a safe water solution for her home.
Having already paid off her sewing machine loan, Benigna stood ready to take out another loan with the bank. Following a conversation with Veronica about financing for a water connection, Benigna turned to her husband and said, “We have to take out another little loan.”
Benigna washes dishes using water that now flows into her kitchen sink from the storage tank she financed.
This time her small loan made would make a life-changing difference. With a small loan, Benigna financed a water storage tank and piped connection to a faucet. Now she has safe running water at home.
"I am living peacefully now…I am happy."
With access to safe water at home Benigna has the time she needs to care for her family and to earn more income.
Benigna's story shows the power of financing to unlock opportunity. One loan helped her start a small business. Another brought safe water to her home.
Without the daily burden of collecting water, Benigna has more time to sew, earn an income, and support her family. Today, she is repaying her loan and building a brighter future.
Reflecting on how much her life has changed, she says, “I am living peacefully now. I am happy.”
