Elizabeth’s Story: Peace for Mothers Starts with Safe Water
“Everyone was expecting so much from me as a mother, [but] I didn’t even have the time to play with my kids or relax myself. I would put the kids to bed [and] cry myself to sleep alone in the other room. I was so depressed.”
These are the words of Elizabeth, a mother living in Mutulani, Kenya. For millions of mothers around the world like Elizabeth, the lack of safe water close to home prevents them from being able to spend time with their children.
This Mother’s Day, we want to share Elizabeth's story. Her life drastically changed when she received access to safe water in Mutulani.
Every day around the world, women and girls spend an estimated 200 million hours walking for their water. Time that is normally spent on taking care of children, furthering one's education, learning a new skill, or running a business, is instead spent on collecting a resource necessary for everyday life.
Elizabeth was one of these women before receiving access to safe water.
I would wake up very early in the morning, at 5 or 6 a.m., to go look for water in a faraway place. I had to leave the kids here, and it was 4 kilometers there, so it took two hours to walk.
Being away from home for so long at such a critical time in the morning affected her two young children, Mercy and Felix.
“The situation when I got back was really bad,” Elizabeth shared. “My husband would be tending the farm, and my kids would be left there, alone and hungry. I would come home, make breakfast, wash the children for school, and then go again for water.”
I went to get water three times a day. I was distressed emotionally, spending at least 10 [hours] every day collecting water, sometimes more if there were longer queues.
Spending almost her entire day walking for water in the African heat left Elizabeth feeling miserable. She had little time to do household chores or spend time with Mercy and Felix. In her sadness, she turned to the Lord.
“My faith was shaken,” Elizabeth said. “I questioned God as to why this was happening to me. I prayed a lot and read the Bible and hoped one day He would hear my cry.”
The Lord answered Elizabeth’s prayers.
Psalm 34:17
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
The primary school in Mutulani brought the community’s dire need for safe water to Water Mission’s attention. We assessed the need and created a strategy for providing safe water.
“I remember hearing about Water Mission coming here, and I was really excited,” Elizabeth said. “I dreamed of the future, getting up, bathing [my children], and sending them to school safe and clean.”
Water Mission engineers first installed a Living Water Treatment System and Erosion Chlorinator. When the water supply could not keep up with residents’ needs, we connected the system to a power grid to increase pumping. The project now serves 3,300 people in the community, including 500 homes, two schools, and a health clinic.
Now, since you brought the project, [collecting water] takes only 10 minutes at the market tap. I can go anytime: There is no line. There is always water.
Safe water transformed Elizabeth’s life.
“The situation is better,” Elizabeth explained. “No stomach issues, so the kids don’t miss school, and they go to school clean. It has even helped my marriage. I have more time for everything. I eat well and sleep well…. Now, I have time to tend to my family.”
Access to safe water has also allowed Elizabeth to invest her money and build community with other women.
“I have money to invest,” Elizabeth said. “I have even joined a women’s savings group. That has helped me save money to get loans and also have time together with other women.”
Before Water Mission’s project, the women’s savings group consisted of only five members, but it has since grown to 30 members. Elizabeth explained that the reason for this growth is because now, the women have time—they no longer spend their days walking for water.
The group has also given the women the space and the support system with whom to share their hardships and joys. Elizabeth said, “We have counseling lessons in those meetings where we discuss our marriages and kids, and the older women advise us.... Together, we find better ways of handling issues.”
Elizabeth’s investments have allowed her to start a small fry business in the marketplace to earn extra income, increasing her quality of life.
“Before, I lived in a small mud hut,” she said. “Now, I have built a quality brick house with a cement ground. The rain doesn’t get into the new home. I can pay school fees. I can have biscuits for the kids to eat after school. I can get my kids clothes.”
A mother’s greatest joy is seeing her kids happy and healthy. Elizabeth feels overjoyed that her children have the opportunity to thrive and that she can now rest and spend time with them.
“Mercy and Felix’s life will be much better than I had. I feel so settled mentally and content. I can relax and take care of myself. My body is healthier, both mentally and emotionally.
This Mother’s Day, you can bless twice as many mothers like Elizabeth. When you give to Water Mission this month, generous partners will match all donations up to $25,000 total in honor of their mothers, Clarice Dudley and Beatrice Micklash.
Your generosity will help parents and children have access to safe water, which can improve their quality of life, strengthen their relationships, and give them peace. Double your impact on women like Elizabeth this Mother’s Day by giving safe water.
Give the gift of safe water to mothers like Elizabeth!
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