Grace’s baby was due to arrive any day. With honesty she shared the woes many expecting mothers experience. In the same breath, she expressed with enthusiasm how grateful she was to have her pregnancy last to term. This is a sentiment shared by many expecting women in her community.

Grace lives in a small rural village several hours south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Sixty-one million people lack access to safe water in her country. A Water.org survey found that women living in rural villages in Ethiopia walk more than three hours a day to collect water, often from shallow wells or unprotected ponds they share with animals.

Burdened by the water crisis, it is not surprising that Grace had concerns about the sustainability of her pregnancy. She described her walks as uncomfortable and hot. The weight of the water concerned her, so she carried less and made more trips. She wanted relief; she needed water at home.

Grace is a global citizen with rights. She and her husband are doing their best to make a home for their first child - and in that home we believe the family should have safe water.

This is where Water.org’s work is working. We believe in empowering people with access to safe water. It is for people like Grace that we created WaterCredit. WaterCredit brings small, easily repayable loans to people who need access to affordable financing and resources to make household water and toilet solutions a reality. Grace and her husband are people who have what it takes to define their own futures, and like all people, they deserve the opportunity to do so. They just needed a little help.

It is because of this solution that today, Grace has a water tap on her property. It is because of this solution that today, Grace is no longer burdened by the water crisis. And it is because of this solution that now, Grace can rest in preparation for her baby.