Clean Water and Community
Owning a 20 Liters SAM3 Household Filter has been life changing for Afise and her husband Manzi. It has provided them with clean water and community – two things that are very hard to live without.
Afise and Manzi are parents to five children and live in the sector of Ntarama in rural Rwanda. Afise told us that her family gets their water from either the swamp or a nearby borehole. The water is cloudy with sediment and is not clean. Before they received their filter, her family was often sick, particularly her children. Afise would frequently take her children to the Health Center to receive treatment. The family was spending about 25,000 Rwanda Francs or approximately 35 US dollars every three months. For her family, this was an enormous expense.
Since they received their SAM3 filter, the family is seldom sick. Afise tells us that when her twin children were born, she used filtered water to bathe the babies. Her older children had often suffered from skin diseases and rashes as babies. But the twins did not have those issues. When we took a picture of her with one of the twins, Afise proudly remarked on how fresh and healthy they both looked.
Afise tells us that the filter has brought her more than clean water. She has also been blessed with new friends.
Two neighbors that she did not know before have been coming to her home for drinking water. These neighbors have become close friends and they share many things together.
Her children, as well, have found a larger community of support through the Water Project. They attend World Relief Care Groups at a local church, where they are taught lessons on health and hygiene.
Afise is so grateful for her filter and the improved health of her family. She is also grateful for the people that she has met. Clean water and community are two things to be very thankful for.
