Cloth For Work

The little 5 year old Kuber had no choice.. he had to drink water from the little hole in the ground.. He still remembers how he fell terribly ill and had to be hospitalized for a long time.”

Kuber’s family and others in Dakamaha, a small village of 65 households in Odisha’s Kandhamal district reel under acute water crisis every summer. The village, along with a cluster of adjoining ones, is situated 55 kms from Daringbadi Block, in a remote hilly forested region. This village of more than 360 people are aboriginal tribals lacking access to even basic infrastructural amenities like road, electricity and safe drinking water. People are therefore forced to turn to any source to quench their thirst. 

This is the scenario that Goonj teams came across when we went to the area with Mr Dinbhandhu, head of our local partner grassroots organization. He added “the water is dirty ... with only one duck well in the village. They have no choice but to use it both for drinking and other domestic chores”.

The villagers shared how they had to depend on monsoon rains for water and walked long distances to fetch water. Dinabandhu added that Diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases are common and pregnant women and children are the most affected. After long discussions with the locals, when our team encouraged the villagers to dig a new well for themselves under Goonj’s “Cloth for Work” initiative, 31 villagers embarked on digging a well within 8 hours, to create an alternate water storage!  They were rewarded with our comprehensive “Family Kits” including basic clothing, few utility items and a pair of brand new shoes for their efforts.