Drinking water for 24 villages of Thimmampalli GP

Our project seeks to provide safe drinking water to fluoride affected 24 villages through a partnership between the village local government (Gram Panchayat) and Swasti.

We would like to thank our supporter who generously shared their hard earned money to make difference to the lives of people living in these villages.  Till today we have raised $2,220.

Key Updates:

•          246 families have registered as consumers of the water plant. This roughly translates to over 1279 family members. The villagers close to the plant are accessing the water more frequently than those who are away from the plant for the reason of distance.
•          Every day 20 liters of water is supplied to Government run Kindergarten and Primary school in the Gram Panchayat (Village local Government). The Initiative was able to reach and sustain services to about 2000 children in 16 schools and 19 kindergarten
•          Since last quarter we are able to reach about 300 children of 3 schools and 2 anganwadies of nearby 3 villages.
•          In order to improve supply of water to the farthest villages, Swasti is making efforts to identify local person who has business interest as well as doing social good through the business.
•          Our Community Facilitator (CF) carrying TDS meter to scientifically address the issues and generate demand for potable water.(TDS Meter indicates the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of a solution. i.e. the concentration of dissolved solids in it. Since dissolved ionized solids such as salts and minerls increase the conductivity of a solution, a TDS meter measures the conductivity of the solution and estimates the TDS from that.). CF is explains the differences between potable water and the regular water which is being used for drinking and cooking.  CF makes people to realize the issues arise from using fluoride water and encourages them to use potable water not only for drinking but also for cooking. 
•          Several round of discussion are held in last three months with Panchayat to form a Committee on Water. This is to ensure that the efforts are managed and governed locally with users themselves rather than a NGO. The potential members are identified and in next quarter, efforts will be to strengthen the newly formed Water Committee. 

Stories of Hope:

• “Narasimhappa from Naravalapalli aged 49 years is consuming fluoride contaminated water since being a child. This has resulted in severe pain in the joints making it very difficult for him to walk. His mobility was restricted impacting his livelihood and performing social role.  He was not very convinced that fluoride can have an effect on his health. After several round of dialoguing and with a doctors intervention, he was convinced that he had to take a corrective measure even if it was late. Since last one year, he is consuming water from the plant and has made it a norm to use the plant water for cooking. According to him, his pains have considerably come down and he is able to walk and play with his grandson. He says, if not for the plant, he would have lost the joy of mobility and playing with his grandson.

Next set of actions for the quarter

•          Continue to reach out to supporter to address the issues of coverage and to provide sustainable transportation solutions to reach the far of villages
•          To form and strengthen the Water Committee so that larger part of management and governance of the plan is taken up by the local communities