Living Water

INDIA – When the summer is at its peak and the drought spreads through the Telengana region of Andhra India3Pradesh, it becomes a real struggle to find clean water. People wait in the street, desperately hoping that a water tanker will stop. Others line up to wait their turn at a neighborhood standpipe that may be working today. In rural areas, people walk an average of 3 kilometers to fill a bucket of water.

In Telengana, women are responsible for collecting most of the water needed for use in their homes. Young girls are expected to help, and when the water supply is far away, they spend hours each day fetching water for their families and livestock. This creates an enormous strain on their energy, productivity, and health. When the nearest water supply is contaminated, there are also health risks from parasites, cholera, and other waterborne diseases. Girls trapped in this situation have little time or energy left to pursue an education, and even if they did have time, they are often deterred by the lack of separate and decent sanitation facilities in schools. The heavy loads (often 30 or 40 pounds) that they carry—can cause skeletal deformation and accelerate the deterioration of joints.

One of Living Water International’s India teams is at work in Telengana, and recently completed a water solution in the village of Janampeta, a tribal village of about 300. The community did not have a single source of consistent, safe water, and villagers were often forced to walk to neighboring villages and wait in long lines to use a well. now i can go to schoolWorking with village leaders, LWI drilled a well and installed a hand pump at the primary school that sits near the center of the community. The teacher at the primary school told us, “This hand pump will help all the children of the school. It will reduce dehydration cases among children. Before, when the students were thirsty, they went to their homes, which took up to an hour to one hour. It hampered their studies. Also, children could not wash their hand before taking their midday meal.” A few weeks later, 11-year-old Meena described what the well in Janampeta meant to her. “I wasn’t able to go to school because I had to help my mother fetch water, but now I can help my mother with the water and still have time for school. This well will help many girls like me in my village. Now they can go to school.”