Safe Drinking Water facility in Manigaun Gumda

After the devastating earthquake of April 25 and May 9, 2015, everything was ravaged in the village of Manni Gaun, Gumda and other neighboring village. We, Journey Home Foundation, at that time were in the mission of providing aid and relief in the rural villages of Gorkha. We found out about the critical condition of water shortage in Mani Gaun.   The locals had to walk long distance or be reliable in small water crook and ponds (as show in picture below), that occur naturally during spring season, to get water. 

After we found out about the condition, we held meeting with the local village heads and government officials to address the problem of the village where the locals requested us to construct a water tank near water source so that the water wouldn`t go to waste. After hearing all the suggestions and grievances, we planned to construct the water tank capable of storing 26,000 liters of water.  After the completion of this project, 265 household will have the direct access to safe & clean drinking water.

To construct the water tank, we first of all, established a construction and consumer committee to look after the quality standards of the project. And the good thing was that, the villagers themselves established an evaluation and monitoring committee to look after the project.  After this, we started our work. We initiated the project with local participation so that it would bring them the sense of belongingness in the project. 

After the establishment of the committee and finishing all the paper works, we were planning to start the work immediately. But when we were going in the project field, the road was not clear and when the road became clear, it started to snow. In these conditions, we used labor and mules to carry sand loads to the project site for 7-9 hours in the steep hill every day for almost 15 days. After that the road got clear and we were able to take the raw materials from Kathmandu and Gorkha by truck and tractor. Sand was available around the village so we didn`t have to transport it from Gorkha but other materials had to be transported from Kathmandu and Gorkha. During the time period the road kept on being damaged but it was not a big issue. But it surely caused delay in transporting materials to the project site. Also, the decrease in the value of pound, which was by almost 15%, compared to Nepali rupees caused in budget constriction. If the Big Lottery fund and GlobalGiving would increase the budget ceiling by 8% then it would be just enough to create a small tub attached to the water tank for the domestic animals to drink water. This small tub would help to collect the water that goes to waste which could be stored for the animals to drink.  

We are happy our work plan is going according to the plan schedule. The water tank project will be completely completed by 15^th Feb. On average, 12-14 men and women were mobilized to complete the project for 8 hrs every day.  When we started our project on 23^rd December, we had started with 14 men and women, and then we made 12-14 individuals from different families to work. We didn`t use the same work force every day as we also thought of making every one  to get financial benefit and making them a part of the project too. 

After the completion of the project, we have the campaign for awareness regarding women empowerment and fight against human trafficking.  In the initial stage of our campaign we plan on conduction the awareness program in 4 VDCs of Gorkha, namely Kashi Gaun, Khorla, Keraunja and Singla in the span of 3 months.  We will be doing this by conducting a seminar in the village`s main compound and with interaction program so that they can know and also understand the problems of human trafficking, the importance of women empowerment.  For this, we would take help form the local volunteer and the influential people of the village so that the program can be more efficient and effective. In Mani gaun, we will also be conducting awareness program regarding importance of health and sanitation because the ultimate goal of the water project is to promote health and hygiene.  The awareness campaign will ultimately cover the 12 most rural parts of Gorkha district.