Elenita is proud she can now spend her days at home, sewing bags and aprons for a living. This was not always the case. 

Elenita’s home sits on a quaint street in a peri-urban neighborhood. Potted herbs and fruit trees surround her humble abode where Elenita and her husband raise their boys. While the boys are at school, she spends her days in the home sewing bags and aprons for department store distributors. Some might never believe a family like Elenita’s could lack access to safe water and a toilet, but the reality is until recently, they did.

More than 43 million Filipinos lack access to a safe toilet, and many households cannot connect to water systems due to the high up-front connection costs. Instead, families often rely on unsafe water sources or expensive bottled water from informal water sellers.

Because the need for water and sanitation is so high in the Philippines, Water.org conducted an assessment that demonstrated significant interest from lending institutions in what we call WaterCredit. WaterCredit is the first program to put microfinance tools to work in the water and sanitation sector. Now included as a part of their lending portfolios, microfinance institutions across the Philippines are helping empower families by removing the financial barriers that stood between them and safe water or a toilet. People like Elenita and her husband can take a small, affordable loan to construct piped water connections, filters, wells, pumps, water tanks or toilets. 

Elenita’s story proves our solution will not only help end the water crisis, but it will also transform lives, giving women hope, children health and families a future.