By Janice Vard Smith | Project leader
The United Nations has stated that the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right. It should not be a privilege or impossibility, as it is for most of our poor Dalit families. India has voted to prioritize sanitation development and Nandri is proudly playing its part in helping our families improve their basic water and sanitation conditions.
Basic sanitation facilities improve the health of the whole community, preventing the spread of numerous diseases, including diarrhea, a common cause of illness. Due to lack of sanitation, Cholera and Polio are also more prevalent in areas lacking proper sanitation. The basic lack of a toilet means our Nandri families have to endure the indignity of defecating in the fields, putting their health and the health of others at risk.
HOW NANDRI IS HELPING OUR FAMILIES
We are creating awareness amongst our mothers of the need for basic hygiene and cleanliness, for example washing your hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs and diseases. Through the Mothers groups, we distribute government leaflets educating on the importance of hygiene. By educating the women, they will in turn pass on this important information to their families. Nandri is also conducting rallies in the community with doctors and nurses invited to speak on the importance on hygiene and sanitation.
Nandri is providing loans to families to build their own toilets. The government in India is providing grants but frequently for our very poor families this is not enough to allow them construct their own toilet. A loan from Nandri makes it possible and to date 58 families have availed of a loan, helping to make their families lives so much more healthy and dignified.
Such a basic necessity of access to a toilet, that we take for granted in our everyday lives, is changing the lives of not only our Nandri families, but also their communities. There is a cultural revolution in our villages with the introduction of proper sanitation and it is improving and changing the lives of our mothers and their families and future generations forever.
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