She pours love and safe water

For some moms, the early hours of morning are a time for self. Just before the children wake they may exercise, meditate, read, or pour a coffee. But, for millions of moms in poverty, the early hours of morning are spent searching for a place to relieve themselves outdoors before sunlight illuminates the fields. And after they go, they continue their journey away from home in pursuit of finding and collecting the water their families need for the day. They repeat their walks, adding up the miles, with hopes to collect enough for baths, breakfast, and laundry.

Moms pour their hearts and lives into protecting and providing for their growing children. And right now, millions of moms around the world long to pour safe water for them, too. Every day these moms face a personal struggle as they don’t have access to the safe water and toilets needed at home to raise their loved ones in health and safety. Hossne was one of these moms.

Hossne is a mother of two young boys. She and her husband both work, though this hasn’t always been an option. Before the couple financed a bathroom with running water in their home, Hossne could not always go to work because her children were sick from the family’s lack of a toilet and safe water or, because she needed to collect water for drinking and to bathe. Hossne recalled that when it rained, the rains made the terrain muddy and even more challenging to navigate when walking to collect water or to take the boys to relieve themselves. She shared, “I often did not feel like collecting water from elsewhere. It was an awful feeling… and, I often used to wonder, ‘when we will have our own toilet and water well.’"

Thanks to those who support the work of Water.org and to those who partner with us locally, it did not take long to satisfy Hossne’s question with a hopeful answer. Through Water.org’s local financial partner in Bangladesh, Wave Foundation, Hossne and her husband were approved for a small loan of 30,000 Taka, which is about $290USD, to construct a tube well and a bathroom with a toilet and sink. Hossne is confident she and her husband can repay their loan while providing for their boys’ needs. This confidence stems from her ability to go to work and make sweaters—something she’d not been able to do with consistency in the past. “I can work now and spend the money I earn on my children’s education and on my family’s needs.”

Not only does Hossne now have time to earn more income, but with safe water flowing at home Hossne’s morning hours can be spent safe at home where she can pour love and life lessons into her children all while she pours them safe water, too.