Help women secure water and food in India

With your support, women like Masturo and their families have been able to count on secure and easy access to clean water.

Masturo lives in the village of Jemla. She is 29 years old and was married at just 13 years old. At 15 she gave birth to her first child. Her husband used to work in Jodhpur’s mines, which was the only source of income for the family. After his death they were left with almost no financial means. They could not afford his medical treatment either; as a result the initially small tumor in his body kept on growing, finally leading to his death.

She is now a young widow with 1 daughter and 3 sons. The eldest son is 14 years old and she also has to take care of her elderly parents-in-law. Her mother-in-law is almost blind and bedridden. Masturo had to spend on average 5-6 hours per day on fetching water for the family.

The closest nadi (pond) is 2.5 miles away from her household. She suffered from debilitating pains in her back due to fetching water and her family could not enjoy regular bathing. Her dream was to have a taanka (and water storage facility that collected rainwater during the monsson), but she thought it was impossible.

Masturo was one of the women who GRAVIS selected to receive a taanka, which marked the beginning of a better life for her and her family. Her relatives assisted in constructing the facility, while GRAVIS supplied building materials.

After having received the taanka, Masturo has time for doing other kind of work to earn an income. She now owns now around a dozen animals for breeding. Despite her difficult family situation, thanks to the taanka she now enjoys a better quality of life.