For years, the villages of Rajou lived with the consequences of an unreliable and costly water supply. What should have been a basic public service had turned into a daily struggle: families were forced to depend on water tankers, paying prices that steadily eroded already-strained household budgets. And even then, the water delivered was often of questionable quality, raising constant concerns about safety and disease—especially among the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.
Against this backdrop, WATAN, with the support of Polish Aid (PAH), completed the rehabilitation of the main pumping stations and the elevated water tank serving the Rajou area. What might appear as a technical intervention on paper has, for thousands of residents, become a turning point in their everyday lives.
One of them is Mona Moqtad, a 55-year-old woman from Haj Khalil village. Mona lives with her extended family of seven, including her ageing parents and young grandchildren. For years, her family relied on two water tankers a month—an expense that consumed around 36 USD monthly. The financial pressure was especially heavy given the medical needs of her father, Abdelrahman Murad Salman, who lives with paralysis and requires ongoing care.
“The hardest part wasn’t just the cost,” Mona recalls. “We never knew if the water was clean. We feared illness more than we feared the price. But once the pumping resumed, everything changed. We stopped buying tankers, and now we can use that money to buy my father’s medication.”
Mona’s experience mirrors that of nearly 25,000 residents who have now regained access to a stable, safe, and affordable water supply. With water flowing again through the network, families no longer wait for a truck to appear at the edge of the village, nor face the impossible choice between purchasing water or covering basic health needs.
The project’s impact goes far beyond the repaired infrastructure. It has helped re-establish a sense of normality, dignity, and reliability in a service that people should never have had to fight for. By restoring access to clean water, WATAN is helping reinforce the resilience of communities that have endured years of service disruption and instability.
Through this and similar interventions, WATAN continues to advance its national responsibility to support critical services and improve daily living conditions for vulnerable communities — ensuring that essential rights, like access to safe water, are restored where they are needed most.