Access to Water for Rural Indian Families

Kamlesh’s wife is an active member of the local economic development programming.  Her name is Jamnadavi.  There are 7 people living as a family in their home, including three children. Jamnadavi’s health has not been well for the last 2 years. She is not able to carry heavy weights, so the work of bringing water for the family and other extra heavy work is now being done by Kamlesh. The Water Wheel was a big gift for their family. Kamlesh used to carry water pots to collect the water. He was feeling ashamed of their poverty and extremely uncomfortable. He was not able to go on time for work because he had to do this laborious household task. But now the situation is changed because of the Water Wheel.  He brings the water happily and quickly.  He saves so much time he can do all the household chores and make it to work on time.  he is bringing water happily form water hand pump which is little far from their house, he is able to save some time for other work also so he is helping to her wife in other work and also he is going every work also. Water wheel is big blessing for their family.

Bimla lives in a very hilly area which exacerbates the crisis she faces in collecting water for her family.  There are 6 family members living in her house, all of whom require a lot of water for their daily cooking, drinking and bathing.  To conserve water, they were bathing in the local river.  That was extremely difficult for the women in the family. The nearest well was 4 kilometers from their house and making the trip 5 times a day to collect water in their pots was more than Bimla could take, especially with the hilly terrain. Now that she has a Water Wheel, though, she feels that her life is very easy.  Now instead of up to 6 hours to get the water, it only takes her 1-2 hours per day.  She saves so much energy and time.  Her children think the Water Wheel is fun!  They eagerly help in getting the water now, too.

100 Water Wheels = 100 women that will have better health and a productive lifestyle

For the past two years, the Dalit Freedom Network's Good Shepherd Economic Development initiative has helped 675 families get water wheels in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu -- all across India! This month we distributed 100 more water wheel units, 50 to West Bengal drought affected villages and 50 to the Kolkata slums. The water wheels are crucial to helping families get out of poverty because the time and physical health burdens of water collection creates a vicious cycle of poverty. Women are the main water collectors, with millions of women and girls spending hours every day hauling heavy loads of water to their homes they face many injuries which lead to the inability to care for their families. They also have no time to be trained, get a job or young girls to study in school because they are spending this long journey to provide the basic need for their family.

It was a joy to see the gratefulness on the women’s faces as they received the water well because this is a huge tool for them to make a better lifestyle for their family.

Isnaben (name changed) lives in a small village in the North Indian state of Rajasthan. She is 29 years old and is an active member of one of our local women's empowerment group. She spends most of her time bringing water for her 5-member family to use for cooking, washing, and other needs. She has to walk two kilometres while balancing four pots, to bring water for her family. She must do this on average, 8 times per day. The field managers of her group learned of her struggle, and decided to give her a water wheel. She has been using this unit for 8 months now, and she testifies how much time and energy it saves because it is fewer trips and less weight on her body so she does not feel as tired or strained. She is thrilled to be able to give more time to her family and has more energy to provide love, support and care for them. She is so thankful to DFN for making her life happier and we are grateful we were able to help in giving her a better future.

Laxmiben (name changed), another of our women's empowerment group members, is 30 years old and also lives in a small village in Rajasthan. She has been using a water wheel for the past year. She has 6 members in her family and 3 goats which means she was making many trips to the well per day. She testifies her life has become much easier with the water wheel and has more time for her family and to meet their basic needs because she is home more. She, her family members, and ever her goats are so thankful and again we are very grateful to help.