By Andrew Sinclair | Development Director
OMIF with the help of Red International helped 675 women in drought-ravaged areas of arid regions of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and West Bengal, over two years. These women used to carry water for their domestic use from the source to their homes in water pots holding them over their heads or shoulders or hips. OMIF and Red International successfully shifted such weights of water loads from the physical bodies of these women to their WaterWheels which are water barrels in the form of hollow wheels that accommodate water and facilitate moving them like a cart, as shown in the pictures below.
These simple machines have transformed lives and communities.
Rutuja* lives with her family of six people in one of the driest desert regions of Rajasthan state. Till she received one of the WaterWheels, she used to be bear the load of carrying water on her body as if she was one of the farm animals meant to carry cargo. It’s hard to imagine the ordeal Rutuja was going through trying to meet the requirements of water for family before she got her WaterWheel. She had to make sure that her family had enough water for all their washing, and bathing requirements. If it was through water pots like before, she had to make a few trips up to the water source and back to her home carrying at least two water pots each of 10 to 15 litres. Each such trip covered four to five miles. The glee that came to Rutuja and her family when they were blessed with this simple but effective machine, only they can tell.
Where ever we distributed the WaterWheel, the story we heard is the similarity that the day-to-day life of women is full of tedious household routines. The women, homemaker of a family, get to work right from daybreak and would only rest her aching back close to midnight. We are very happy to help these women with this simple innovation.
Thank you so much for your partnership in transforming these women’s lives. Please continue to share this simple but powerful way to help communities with your friends.
*name changed
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