More Than Just a Water Softener Company
Over the life of Alamo Water Softeners, we do our best to live up to our core beliefs. At our core, we believe in being good stewards of all that God has entrusted to us. Business is temporary, but our impact is eternal. Doing what is right by God, our team, and our customers will never steer us wrong. We educate, guide, and help all those we come across, and we do it joyfully with a servant’s heart.. These principles guide everything we do. From how we engage and partner with our vendors and especially how we approach our neighbors that reach out to us. Especially when it comes to other companies and non-profits that we associate ourselves with like the San Antonio Humane Society or Operation Interdependence that helps provide military care packages to support our active military members overseas and veterans at home.
Alamo Water Softeners uses our core beliefs as a North Star, we have found other opportunities to make a greater impact on our Greater San Antonio community and now, across the globe. Every day we strive to provide South Texans with the best possible water quality for their home and family through many of our products. Living in the United States, we are used to seeing and understand the ease of access that we all have to clean water. We are alsofamiliar with products that help to increase the purity of the water that we use and consume everyday. No matter if you are looking for a products to protect your most important investment, your home, or if you are looking to increase the quality of water into your home we have you covered. Now, Alamo Water Softeners is now supporting Water.org to help families around the world get access to safe water and sanitation. In this blog entry, you will read stories of folks just like us who are trying to get along in the world and provide for their families. It is these stories and Water.org core purpose, to help families around the world.
About The Water Crisis
We are lucky to live in a country that is plentiful in the most valuable resources. Water is necessary to support life. So when we found out that 1 in 9 people in the world lack access to water, it was a bit surprising because we are often consumed with our own personal day-to-day, that we don’t think about this. Or that every day nearly 1 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases. Or that globally, 1 in 3 schools lacks access to basic water and sanitation. These are all things that can be completely corrected. But as Americans it is out of sight, and therefore out of mind. So we wanted to share those stories that helped move us to partner with Water.org.
Aisyah is Smart
From Indonesia, Meet Aisyah (photo credit to water.org)
Aisyah is a wife, a mother, and a farmer. Most critical to all of her roles is time. “Time to work my rice fields means more money I can make for my family; our life is better,” Aisyah explained.
As a smart business woman growing one of Indonesia’s most desired crops, Aisyah recognized lack of access to water at home as the main obstacle keeping her from having the time needed to farm.
Until recently, a typical day for Aisyah included waking before sunrise to walk a few kilometers, all for the purposes of collecting water. Her options varied – a river, a community pump or her neighbor’s bore well – none reliable. After several back-and-forth trips to collect enough water for her family’s needs, finally a tired and often frustrated, Aisyah made her way to the rice field.
It is for people like Aisyah that we support Water.org. They connect families to affordable financing, empowering them to install water connections and toilets at home. A smart solution for a smart business woman, Aisyah knew water at home meant more time to produce a larger harvest. With these benefits in view, she confidently approached taking a small, affordable loan to construct her very own water tap.
Now, with help from Water.org, the financial obstacle between Aisyah and time to work has been removed. And now, as we have seen for millions of others, Aisyah continues to change her world.
Meet Nanda
From India, Meet Nanda (photo credit to water.org)
From India, Meet Nanda (photo credit to water.org)[/caption]Her smile is truly as warm as the herbal tea she prepares each morning to sell from her humble home in Mysore. Past the mint and chamomile drying in the window, one can see Nanda’s husband feeding and watering their dairy cow. Days didn’t always start like this for the couple. For years, this time of day was spent focused on collecting water.
Like the other women in her village, Nanda rose before the sun to collect water for her family. After multiple trips back-and-forth to a distant community well, she eventually had enough water for meals, baths, and laundry. These hours Nanda spent to get water could have been used differently – she could have been selling tea and earning money for her family. After all, to attend school in their village required the purchase of uniforms and books. With only her husband’s income, the couple could hardly afford such items to send all of their children to school.
It is for her time, for her children’s educations, and for the family’s future, that we support Water.org. They make small, affordable loans possible for people to finance their own water and sanitation solutions, empowering people who otherwise couldn’t to build a tap or toilet.
Now a water tap stands only a few feet from Nanda’s door, near her garden bed where her herbs grow. Though she was unable to offer her children safe water throughout their childhoods, Nanda smiles today. She smiles because her income selling tea affords her grandchildren the opportunity to go to school.
Sabina Is Bold
From Kenya, Meet Sabina (photo credit to Water.org)
This is Sabina. She’s a farmer, a single mom, and the primary caregiver to her elderly mother. She approaches her days with bold wisdom, keen resourcefulness and a dedication to hard work.
Days used to start early for Sabina. Without any other option, every morning required a long walk to collect water needed for breakfast, bathing, and cleaning – usually from a distant, unsafe natural source. There were only a few occasions on which Sabina purchased water from a vendor. She valued the time saved by just purchasing water, but for her it was unwise and financially unfeasible to do this regularly. Thus, pond water was the family’s primary option.
Sabina’s home and small farm are located in a rural village outside Nairobi, Kenya. Two long rainy seasons benefit Sabina’s crops; however, it wasn’t until recently that she could take advantage of the abundant precipitation.
Water.org made possible in Kenya what, to a resourceful woman like Sabina, seemed an ideal solution. With their help, Sabina financed a rain catchment system. During and after the rains, Sabina can store enough water for her home and crops. This frees her from time spent collecting water. And, her well-fed plants earn her money, some of which she used to repay her loan.
Sabina approaches her days with the same boldness as before, but now she has more say over her mornings. What she does with that time is her choice, and this is why we support Water.org to empower other women like Sabina.
One of the common threads in all of these stories that stuck out to us about all of these amazing women is that they are not looking for a hand out. They are not looking for someone to come and save them from their circumstances. They just want a chance to create a better life for themselves and their families. If access to safe water and sanitation can help them help themselves, then we are glad to be a part of that. We will continue to educate, guide, and help all those we come across, and we do it joyfully with a servant’s heart.
