People, People, People

One thing I've really come to understand from visiting the villages and meeting the people is that the way to truely make a permament difference is by investing in the people just as much as the hardware. If you only work with one part of the puzzle you can't solve it all. When you do involve the people you get long lasting results that can last generations.

The people we met weren't looking for handouts and all of them had contributed to the work that had gone on in their community by either  providing the labour or contribuing financially.

The Water Management Committees, created from community members, are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the equipment and they take a monthly sum from each household to pay for its upkeep. WaterAid provide training in obvious subjects such as hygiene but they also cover topics such as accounts so they can look after the money they manage.

Kamhar Village - when we visited they'd had no external support from WaterAid for over a year but prior to that the teams had spend up to 3 years helping them develop the people as well as the plans for the village. There are women's groups and youth groups in addition to the Water Management Committee and the village has maintained the water system that has been installed which they contributed to financially.

Photo collage that the village put together to show us the work they did in advance of the completion of the project.

You probably can't read the numbers here but the total cost of the project is bottom right - 482291 Rupees and the top left figure is the amount that the Village contributed - 53000 Rupees, that's around 9% of the total project cost

Amrod Village - they thought they couldn't afford latrines until they were told how they could build them, they were supported with the costs of the materials but then did all of the construction themselves.
Now they are seeking a water service which the Public Health Engineering Department of the State Government is responsible for providing - to get the PHED to do they work, the village must contribute 3% of the cost and the State will do the rest - the work is going to happen in March 2013 !

With the continued support of WaterAid and the local organisations the village had produced a 5 year plan which goes well beyond the water and sanitation issues. Actions included in the plan are getting a metalled road to the village and also a high school so that the children don't have to do long journeys to get to school - they only currently have a primary school.

Mahadev Pura Village - the people here had been maintaining their handpump water sources and house hold latrines since 2008 when WaterAid and local partner Dharti left them to 'stand on their own'. Prior to that the teams had been working with them for 4 years. Since the village has had sole responsibility for the equipment they have had zero days when the pumps didn't work.

 

Although I can't translate the information for you, in essence it details what money from which organisation (including the village) was spent in which year and on what type of equipment. The village is now open defecation free and has a self sufficient water supply. Many of them have also improved their houses and come up with ideas for re-using water ...

 

This 'drainer' has a herb garden underneath which is watered as the washing up drains effectively using the water twice