A mother's day with a difference: the day clean water arrives
All mothers hope their children will grow up with a good education, a safe home and a healthy, happy childhood. But even these most basic of expectations can be a distant hope for those raising children in places without clean water.
Traditionally the burden of collecting water falls to girls and women. Hours lost walking to and from unsafe water sources robs them of the opportunity for an education, or paid work. It makes supporting a family even harder.
So for mothers the arrival of clean water doesn’t just mean a chance to carve out a different future for themselves – it means a better life for their children too.
Back in 2015, WaterAid supporters donated to our Deliver Life appeal to help put clean water into maternity hospitals across the world – giving new mothers and their children a much healthier start in life. That money has since funded a momentous three-year project bringing clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to communities, schools and health centres in Ethiopia, Malawi and Rwanda.
As this work comes to an end, fittingly just before Mother’s Day, we’re bringing you stories from three mothers in Malawi whose lives have been transformed by clean water.
A mother with hopes for her daughter
For Mary (right), clean water means she can be confident her daughter Jessie will get the education she needs to fulfill her potential.
Mary’s daughter Jessie has dreams of becoming a nurse. But until clean water arrived in their village of Mzomo, that dream was fast becoming unlikely, because she was so behind at school. Jessie’s day would often start at 2am to collect water from a well 2 kilometers away – leaving her no time to go to school or study.
Mary remembers the exact day clean water arrived in the village because she slept so peacefully that night, knowing that in the morning she didn’t have to worry about where water would be coming from.
Mary
"The kids can finish up the water as they get ready for school and I do not stress. It is something I never thought would happen to us."
Freed from the burden of collecting water Jessie now has time to study, so she can achieve her goal of becoming a nurse.
“I can now happily say that my daughter will become a nurse and that since our family is engaged in a small scale business, we are now able to support Jessie with all the education materials she needs,” explained Mary.
A mother who can be proud
Clean water means Ketilina (left) can be proud of being able to support her family and make sure her children get a good education.
For mother-of-three Ketilina Nyundo, clean water has created an amazing ripple effect for her family and community.
What’s more, Ketilina and her husband can now grow more vegetables in their garden, which means enough food for the family, as well as extra to sell at market.
“On average, we earn around K7000 (about $9) a month selling vegetables and other food. This was unthinkable in the past where we had to struggle just to put food on the table,” explains Ketilina.
Ketilina
“As a mother, I am now proud to be able to support my children.”
A mother to many
For Christina, who lost both of her children, a nursery class and clean water have given her a second chance at being a mother. Pictured here, Christina holding her self-made teaching materials!
In the village of Chilangiza Christina runs a nursery class. There are no books, chairs, or even walls, but under the shade of a huge tree, between the hours of 8am and 10:30am, school is in session. Christina teaches the children to read and write with her homemade resources.
Christina
"Children are our leaders of tomorrow. It’s our responsibility to teach and shape them in the right way."
More mothers around the world helped by Deliver Life!
