Basma’s house is remarkably spotless for a mother of seven children, the majority of whom are under the age of 10. With so many children, she says, she scarcely has the time to keep them all washed and fed, let alone worry about where she might get the water to do so. With six girls and one boy, water for drinking, washing and cooking is an extremely precious commodity. Fortunately, after building a water cistern with a loan funded by USAID and Mercy Corps, taking care of her large family has become much more achievable.

Before this year, Basma depended on pressurized water from the municipality, which her family would pay to fill a tank in their home. However the service was irregular, and water was often shut off to the area without warning. Last year, water service was interrupted for 18 consecutive days. In the hot summer heat of her village ‘Ein Jenna, the result was crippling. Basma had to send her children daily to the nearest spring to carry water back in heavy jugs, but she constantly feared for their safety. Not only were there many reckless drivers on the road that might not see a small child with a heavy burden, but she was afraid to let her young daughters walk the long distance on isolated roads by themselves.

Four months ago, that all changed when she received a loan to build a cistern that captures precious rainwater, as part of the USAID and Mercy Corps funded Community Based Initiatives for Water Demand Management (CBIWDM) project. Over the course of five years, Mercy Corps has partnered with local Community Based Organizations in each region of Jordan to provide loans to households for water savings and efficiency activities. In Ajlun, Basma received her loan from Fatmah Al-Zahra Cooperative, a women’s organization that promotes employment and development. She had worked with the organization before, had demonstrated need, and was interested improving her family's water situation. After some financial planning with her husband, the family took a US$ 1,400 loan repaid over 30 months to construct a 30 m3 cistern for harvesting rainwater. Although they still use municipal water when it’s available, they save US$14 per month with the cistern, making their loan repayment easy.

It will be three months before the lending organization, Fatima al-Zahra, can grant another loan for a rainwater cistern, but there are already three families on the waiting list. Basma says many of her neighbors and relatives are interested in the project. As she serves mint tea made from rainwater and plump green grapes that are now able to grow in her garden, her daughters giggle shyly from the door. “You don’t know the importance of water until you miss it,” she said.