Sthe*, is a grandmother raising her two young, orphaned grandchildren. Ten years ago, after her husband was murdered in faction fighting, Sthe feared for her life and fled to the informal settlement of Shiyabazali. Although she has lived in South Africa for decades, she is not a citizen and therefore does not qualify for an old age pension to support her small family of three.
Angels’ Care Centre, partnered with Unity Water, and identified Sthe and her family for this distribution. Through Angels’ Care, Sthe receives a comprehensive food parcel to meet her family’s nutritional needs and other vital support.
Fortunately, her grandchildren have South African birth certificates, which allows Sthe to receive two child care grants each month, totaling R1,000 (R500 per child). This is their only source of income.
There is a communal water point near their home, but Sthe is old and frail. The water truck typically arrives around 9 a.m. to fill the tanks. Community members queue with dozens of buckets, often waiting for hours. The water runs out by midday, and since the truck only comes on weekdays, extra water must be collected on Fridays to last through the weekend.
Because her grandchildren are at school and she is too frail to carry heavy water buckets herself, Sthe has been paying others R10 per bucket to fill and carry her four 20-liter buckets. This means she spends R800 a month on water collection, leaving her with at most R200 for everything else.
But that was before… Yesterday, Wednesday, 7 November, Unity Water visited Sthe and provided her with a Hippo Roller. When she saw the Hippo Roller being rolled in and watched the demonstration on how to use, assemble, and clean it, her initial surprise turned into pure joy!
After taking it for a test drive and experiencing how easy it was to handle, Sthe spent 20 minutes thanking and blessing the team. She shed a few tears of relief and gratitude, her face alight with smiles.
As the team prepared to leave, Sthe proudly rolled the Hippo Roller to her front door. They watched as she parked it neatly and began figuring out how to bring it inside. A neighbor came over to assist, and it was clear from Sthe’s animated gestures that she was not only explaining how the Hippo Roller worked but also sneaking in a little joyful brag!
The Unity Water Foundation is on a mission to help as many families as possible access water. You can join us by nominating a community or supporting our BackaBuddy campaign:
https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/rolling-with-hope
Delivering hope with every drop as we strive to end global water enslavement!
*Not their real names. The Unity Water Foundation respects the privacy of those we help.
#UnityWaterFoundation #ChallengingGlobalWaterEnslavement #GivingTimeToThrive #WaterSecurity
