Village life - meet the people who made our stories - Jonhar village

Jonhar, Datia

This village has a population of around 1150 people whose livelihood is based on farming and milk production. There are 3 dug wells in the village, none of which have suitable protection against water contamination and 1 has saline water in it so can only be used for the cattle (yes, they have to be able to fetch enough water for their cattle too!).
There are no toilets and the village has a poor drainage system so there is often stagnant water, especially during the rainy season which increases the risk of malaria.

The women told us that in the summer they and their families often get fevers and aches & pains but they don't have any choice but to drink the water as its all they have. They strain the water through cloth and use sterilising powders but it isn't enough to keep them well.

Discussions with the women of the village

Fetching water is seen as 'women's work' and there was a ripple of laughter around the women when one of them said that the men were 'work shy', but the men's defence was that they had to work in the fields all day.

Krishna (12)

Krishna (12) told us about her  daily routine of fetching water before and after school. She does 5 trips in the morning and 4 trips in the evening. She's probably carrying 10 litres of water each time and she told us that her neck gets very sore and she's often very tired. In the rainy season she has to walk through calf deep mud & water to get to the well. If a new water system to the households is installed then she wants to put the time she saves into her studies for school.





Drinking water well



Well with saline water used for cattle

We also spent time with Indra (27) who is married to Badri (41) and has 3 children, the elder son and daughter are both at school but her 3 year old Sameksamee hasn't started yet. She wants her children to succeed at school so they can get good jobs outside of the village. Her sister-in-law has a larger family of 5 children who all go to  school. Indra has a busy daily routine to look after her family starting around 5am, doing daily chores such as preparing food, fetching water for the family and the cattle and cleaning. If she does get spare time then she will go and help her husband in the fields but will be back in bed by about 10pm.

Indra's family



Sister in law & husband

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