Nargis Begum is a 49-year-old living with a blind husband and her three children. Her youngest son is the only earner and although she tries to help by selling milk from her cows, their family still faces hardships. Her difficulties increased two-fold when she also had trouble ensuring drinking water for her family and cattles.

Nargis Begum turned to her neighbour to get drinkable water for her household, but even that turned out be a problem when her neighbour’s three sons harassed her daughter. Distressed, she would be too scared to go and Nargis Begum, after discussing with her husband and sons, decided to install a tube-well. However, money was tight and they were already struggling to put food on the table.

One day, a Government veterinary health assistant came to her home on a visit. Nargis shared her problem of accessing and availing safe water who informed her about a loan facility for water point installation with free technical support from SAJIDA Foundation. Nargis was directed to the nearest facility where she soon became a member and applied for SAJIDA’s WaterCredit loan to install a tube-well in her house.

During the process of becoming a member and getting a loan, she had to go through a number of hygiene-training sessions where she was sensitized to personal hygiene, water safety plan and importance of handwashing. Additionally, she got knowledge on the operation and maintenance of tube well through client training session by dedicated WASH field workforce, SAJIDA Bondhu. Now they no longer need to go to their neighbour’s home for collecting water. She can collect and store water for her family and domestic cattle with freedom from her own tubewell. Affordable financing has helped restore her family’s health and dignity.