A Simple Solution
Stephanie and Claver live in a rural area of Rwanda with their three children. Like many people in their community, they knew that dirty water could cause sickness. So, they would try to boil their water before they would drink it. But in their community, firewood is expensive. Which makes boiling water expensive. Often, the time, the effort, and the expense of boiling water was too much for their family.
So, they drank untreated water. Unsurprisingly, the dirty water made Stephanie, Claver, and their children sick.
One day, a Water Project Volunteer came to see their family to talk to them about how to get healthier through clean water, sanitation, and hygiene practices. During this training, they were also given good news – there was a simple solution available to them.
Local volunteers selected their family to receive a SAM3 Household Filter through the Water Project.
A SAM3 Household Filter is a simple solution. It is a sand-and-membrane filter that does not require special tools or electricity to make dirty water clean. It can filter up to 100 liters of water each day – providing the recommended 20 liters of water each day for each member of their family.
Volunteers asked Stephanie and Claver to attend several more trainings. These trainings reinforced the importance of drinking clean water, taught them how to use and maintain the filter, and discussed basic germ transmission, the importance of hand-washing, and other basic hygiene practices.
After completing this training, Claver went to pick up their filter. When he got home, they made sure to teach their children how to use and maintain their filter.
Once they had their filter, they really started to see the difference between clean and dirty water. Not only did the water from the filter look clean, but they also noticed they were not getting sick like they used to.
Now, Stephanie, Claver, and their children are healthier. They are sharing clean water with their neighbors. And, they are saving money on firewood and medicine.
For them, a SAM3 Filter was the simple solution that they needed.
