Agnes' story

The Shire River, in the Machinga district of Malawi, is the primary water source for thousands of people who live in its surrounding rural communities. However, the river is dangerous; harboring waterborne diseases and another deadly threat .

I went down the river bank and submerged the bucket, when I tried to pull it up the crocodile grabbed me by the arm and pulled me down into the water.

Agnes Wilson was nearly killed in a crocodile attack which has left her badly injured, unable to work and too scared to go back to the river. In her own words she describes the attack:

"I went to the river to draw water, it was dark when I went as I was fetching it before I went to the fields to work. I went down the river bank and submerged the bucket, when I tried to pull it up the crocodile grabbed me by the arm and pulled me down into the water. He pulled me in deep.

"When the crocodile caught me, I started screaming as it was trying to pull me into the water, and then my two sons rushed into the river – they had a spear in their hands and they put this into the crocodile's mouth so it eventually released me.

"Then they rushed me to the hospital as my hand was broken. I had a deep wound here, so I had to go back to the hospital three times to try and get them to repair it."

In April 2009 WaterAid installed a safe water point in Mwakulisha, the village where Agnes lives. Now her community spends less time collecting water, allowing children to go to school and women to work . By 2012 WaterAid aims to reach a total of 44,000 people in the Machinga district of Malawi.

A gift from you today could help more poor of the world's poorest communities gain access to safe water supplies, close to home .