Salim, 43, is from Irbid, Jordan and lives with his wife and 4 children.
Salim’s family’s financial situation is pretty dire. “There is no work… we get financial aid from the National Aid Fund every month. The children don’t work and there are no opportunities for me because I didn’t really study.” Thanks to the financial aid they receive every month, Salim is able to pay for the children’s school, for water and electricity.
Water is very scarce in the region... our situation improved because of the water installations, but other people living in the neighbourhood or in the region only get water once every 2 weeks for 3 hours so they can’t even fill out their water tanks
“We used to get water in very small quantities,” he explains. “We had one water tank but a bigger one was installed so the water situation got better. Also, we didn’t have hot water: we used to heat water on the stove, while now [...] a water heater and taps were installed. [...] It made our life easier.” Families like Salim’s can now pay one third of what they used to for running water. They can also finally take a hot shower or wash their dishes without having to go to the public well. “We get our water from the water company and it comes with a water meter. [...] When the water tank fills up, it stops [...]. I don’t know about other people, but in our house we use the excess water to water the plants, meaning that the water we use to do the dishes is recycled. [...]. The system lets you use enough water without wasting it.”
