Success Stories

A young Jordanian woman helps save her country’s water supply, one tap at a time.

In her trendy pantsuit and fashionable hairstyle, Khawla Al Sheikh looks just like your coworker, your neighbor or the friend you bump into at the supermarket after work. But when she goes to her job every day, she goes with a dual purpose: to break ground for other low-income Jordanian women and to help save one of her country’s most crucial resources.

Although Jordan has one of the lowest water use rates in the world, consumption still exceeds renewable supplies, making it a challenge for the government to supply this basic necessity to its people. As part of a major effort to increase public understanding of conservation issues, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation — working with the U.S. Agency for International Development — recognized that Jordanian women could be uniquely effective in encouraging water conservation in the home.

Khawla Al Sheikh proved them right.

Along with other low-income women, she took part in a program where she learned income-generating plumbing skills as well as how to assess home water use and market inexpensive water-saving devices. Approaching only female family and friends, the newly trained plumbers fixed leaky pipes, discussed water conservation and sold devices such as low-flow shower heads and simple toilet modifications that reduced household water consumption while also lowering family bills.

The success of the woman-to-woman outreach led to the creation of a formal plumbing course for women. Khawla — buoyed by her new-found skills and confidence — went on to participate in a licensing program where she and six others became the first women plumbers in Jordan, setting a new course for themselves, other Jordanian women and the future of the country’s water supply.

You, too, can help transform the future of our One Shared World.