In early March, about the same time the first case of coronavirus was detected in Ethiopia, Astedu turned on the tap in her side yard and clean water flowed for the first time. Now Astedu and her family are armed with the number one defense against pathogens of all kinds, clean water. All Water1st projects are designed to make handwashing possible in places like Astedu’s community. If we want people to wash hands frequently, we must go the extra mile to build systems that pipe water directly to every household. The return on this investment is enormous as women and girls no longer spend their days walking and waiting in long lines at public taps; women have time to earn an income; girls can attend school; and their families have enough water to maintain a hygienic living environment that benefits our global community.

Water1st is unwavering in our commitment to projects that provide families with enough water to drink, cook, wash hands, flush toilets, bathe, clean clothes, wash dishes, and sanitize household surfaces. These basic needs require 50—100 gallons per day for one family. Our research over the past 15 years has shown that only piped household connections ensure this quantity of water usage. Community hand pumps and community taps fall short.

Thank you for continuing to provide the world’s most vulnerable people with the gold standard. The best line of defense against the spread of disease remains clean water at every home. Our goal for Ethiopia this year is to connect 200 more families to piped water systems. We hope you will join us in this effort.

Lastly, we want to recognize our colleagues and partners in Ethiopia, Honduras, Bangladesh, and Mozambique who remain steadfast on the front lines as they work tirelessly to build water and sanitation infrastructure.

We are all in this together.