"When you don’t have clean water, life is very, very hard."

Almost all of her daily responsibilities require water - preparing food, cleaning dishes, bathing her children, washing clothes, and simply having water to drink. And yet, for many years there was no source of clean water in Olivia’s community of Kiziiko.

The nearest source of clean water was over three miles away and she couldn’t afford the time to walk there and back multiple times while caring for her children. She would often collect water from open pools close to her home. She recalls...

“It was so difficult because I knew I was giving my children dirty water, but it was our only option. Even when I boiled the water, it still was not clean. When you don’t have clean water, life is very, very hard"

The impact of drinking dirty water is felt most by young children, who are particularly vulnerable to water-borne diseases. The cruelest consequence is acute diarrhea which can dehydrate children rapidly, and when there is only dirty water to drink, it can quite often be fatal.

“I always worried when my children fell sick. I knew it was from the dirty water.”

The fortunes of Olivia and her family changed significantly when Water Compass constructed a solar-powered water supply system in her village.

“As a mother, it is so special to know we have clean water. I really felt terrible that I could not give my children clean water to drink. I was always fearing they would become sick. I’m so thankful to Water Compass for bringing clean water to us.”  

With Water Compass’ water station just minutes from her home, Olivia can now easily collect all the water she needs and can rest assured that it’s clean.

“I know the water is clean and my children will be healthy,” she says with a huge smile.  

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