Crunchy numbers

Related articles

• 2011 in review (newideasadvocacy.wordpress.com)

Bathanchoudi is one of the communities where toiletfacilities are being constructed. A local user committee “Bathanchoudi Batawara Tatha Tole Sudhar Samiti” has been formed to run the construction works smoothly and to make the community people accountable towards the development works and maintain the transparency. The majority of the committee members are women and from marginalized group i.e. Danuwar community. The leadership of the committee is run by Sarita Danuwar as a president of the committee.

Sarita shares how she has been through the hurdles during the project implementation at her community, where most of the people are illiterate and extremely poor.

“The community people tried to find a local mason in the community for construction of toilet rings and slabs, but they were unable to find one. There was a mason in the community who has been involved in the civil construction works earlier, but his work was not satisfactory. Besides,  I also visualized that by involving another mason, the community could not afford it. There is no other alternative except to motivate the community. But the challenge is that local people have to go for collection and loading boulders from a nearby river for their daily earnings and no one showed confidence to build the rings.”

To overcome these hurdles in the community, Sarita visited the project sites where the construction work is going and collected the information and knowledge from there.  With the proper knowledge and guidance from the CIUD site office staff and the neighbouring community she wanted to try producing rings by herself. She did get support from her family as well as from the community. Sarita’s husband Saroj Danuwar equally supported her to start this process. Her first attempt to construct rings was successful without any construction training. She is not only helping the community in constructing rings but is also producing rings at affordable cost. On average one ring cost Rs. 500.

 Sarita constructing toilet rings

The family earning source before was only the labour work on the river side i.e. loading boulders which is not sufficient even to run a small family. The skill developed by Sarita as well as the support from the family has helped to generate good income. Sarita earns Rs. 500 for her work , constructing 10 rings for a toilet. In the project period she did construct 10 rings a day.This case of Sarita shows that a woman can be a leader as well as good supporter for her family.

Sarita added that, “the toilet materials are being transported to the households by tractor so that it less work and  for the people and they don’t have to spend extra time for collecting materials. The rings have been constructed timely and are of good quality. The community people are satisfied with the committee’s work. But still there is one obstacle as some people in this community have no space of their own for toilet construction, including myself. So, we requested formally to the Community Forest Committee to provide land for construction of a toilet. The committee accepted our request and granted land for constructing toilet, which has helped the community to make the place a better one.”

One of the toilets

This year 315 toilets have been constructed in six communities in Kamalamai Municipality with active community participation as well as coordination.  o run the programme smoothly.

One of the main objectives of the project is to make the community an Open Defecation Free (ODF) zone. Trained Volunteers for Water Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene (VWESH)  are supporting the project by applying the knowledge gained through periodic training and door-to-door visits and are helping to raise awareness in the community to bring sustainable hygiene behaviour change.

Local materials are used for the door and roof

CIUD staff trained 15 volunteers for the campaign in FY 2009/010. Initial training was for six days and more theoretical based and the refresher training for VWESH is practical based.

Although two of the volunteers dropped out from thge campaign for personal reasons the toilet construction and hygiene promotion work in 16 communities including Bathanchoudi continues to go smoothly.

Herina Joshi

Email: herina@ciud.org.np

Visit my website, blog, etc: http://www.ciud.org.np 

Story submitted for the Source field story contest,

Sridharan, a 32 year old youth, one day had a chance to attend a village meeting of women self‐help groups formed by Gramalaya, a local NGO. The field staff from Gramalaya was talking about the formation of Association for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (AWASH ) committees in the village. They also briefed the women  about the dangers of open defecation nearby the water bodies and the importance of having toilets at the households.

People in the village were mentioning about the water logging problem of their village and the few septic tank model toilets constructed in the village very often get filled. Emptying was a recurring problem and so was getting the money for clearing the toilet tanks. The field staff talked about eco‐san compost toilets and the appropriateness of the model in this type of soil situation. All the members at the meeting agreed that there should be an exposure visit to a village where similar eco‐san toilets were constructed by the local people and that were in use by the families. Srirdharan joined the exposure visit to the National Institute of Water and Sanitation, maintained by Gramalaya and Seventhilingapuram village.

From that moment Srirdharan got more interested in the eco‐san toilet models and he motivated other community members in his village. By his support and with technical assistance from the local AWASH committee, the villagers were able to construct 80 eco‐san toilet models and 40 household water connections.

One of his relatives Mrs.Gomathi constructed a septic tank model costing Rs.70,000 (Euro 1,100), which required frequent clearing of the pit and considerable money for pit emptying and disposal works.

Mrs.Gomathi

Srirdharan was motivated by the field staff from Gramalaya to construct an eco‐san toilet at his home utilizing the financial support from Gramalaya NGO. He constructed an eco‐san toilet at a cost of Rs.7,000/‐ ( Euro 110) at his home two years back, which he constructed with a bathroom facility.

When he got married last year, his wife Saraswathy was hesitant to use the eco‐san toilet since it was not like a conventional toilet model where water would be used for flushing. Sridharan motivated her by telling her all other family members like his mother, father and brother are using the eco‐san toilet. He further affirmed that it is a water saving toilet where water is not used for flushing. He also explained that the compost (humus) from the eco‐san toilet chambers can be used as manure in their garden or cultivation fields. Sridharan’s wife too started using the toilet along with other family members.

Srirdharan is applying the compost from his eco‐san toilet to the local garden where coconut, banana and mango saplings are planted. The eco‐san toilet itself is having an attached bathroom to ensure convenient and privacy for women and for other hygienic purposes.

Srirdharan decorated his eco‐san toilet with paintings and flower plants to show that is an user – and environment friendly toilet for the entire family.

S.Damodaran, Founder Director – Gramalaya, Tiruchirappalli
mailto:sdamodaran63@gmail.com
website :  www.gramalaya.in

Story submitted for the Source field story contest.

Back to the history, our district, “La Vorágine”,  was founded by Mr. Nicolas Felipe Mejía in the year of 1943 and is one of the 13 districts forming the small town of Pance, where the crystal and cold water of the river attract many foreign and Colombian tourists at weekends or in the holiday season.

Vereda La Vorágine

This district was originally called La Vega (the fertile lowland).  The district’s economy was based around two coal mines.  At one time only a dusty bridle path  linked La Vorágine with Cali. It was only in the 1950s that the highway was built.  Since the 1960s when tourism started to rise, La Voragina has been a tourist destination.

Construction of the aqueduct

With the increase in tourism, the need to seek other sources to supply the community with water increased and the water from the river was of very poor quality.  In 1980 the Municipal Public Department of Health (SSPM) started a project to improve this situation.

Two very important people, María Dilia Henao and Javier Ruiz were responsible for starting the work to build an aqueduct; with the help of many others.  Mrs Dilia, who arrived in this region in 1945, from her home north of the Valley of the Cauca recalls that a channel already crossed from south to north and used part of water of the river Pance.  Before the collective water supply was built, most people used to fetch water from there.

At that time, the Chorro de Plata was used as a source for La Vorágine.  In 1984 a channel, a 28 cubic metre brick storage tank and a distribution network, were built. But not everything was working. In 1985 Mrs Dilia, Javier, a leader of our community,  and other inhabitants come to an agreement to make the system work and two 55 gallon metal tanks were, which they are installed at the bank of the stream to make it work as a sandtrap. A 2 inch diameter hose was installed to take water from the inlet at Chorro la Plata to the two tanks.  Two 3 inch PVC pipes were also installed, which completed the system finished.

Overcoming difficulties

Finally work on building the aqueduct started, but there were also problems. Twice the pump was broken with a machete, since some of the neighbours were not happy with sharing their water.  In 1987 the SSPM made new investments to bring the water to the inlet, with a four inch galvanized channeling network.  A sandtrap was also built.  The community is  happy with the aqueduct in spite of the water not being treated.

Ptap Primera fase de construccion

In 1997 the Association of Aqueduct Users was formed and the sewer system of the Locality of La Vorágine (ASOVORAGINE) was constructed.  In the year 2000 we started dreaming of the construction of a PTAP, because we were tired of seeing pipes blocked with mud, stones and even fish.  In 2001 a budget was set to start construction of the PTAP but we did not have the economic resources to complete the aqueduct.

The owner facilitated the payment in two instalments.  We only had 1.4 million pesos (Euro 570) of funds from ASOVORAGINE.  The community council lend us six hundred thousand pesos, but we were still missing three million for the initial quota.  We asked financial companies but they had many requirements. Finally in a desperate act I came with the idea to mortgage my wife’s house and we manage to secure the investment.

The result of our efforts

After three phases of construction we now have an excellent drinking water system.  But our community did not have culture of the careful use of water, and the PTAP began to operate at its maximum output (8 l/s).  You cannot really blame people for using water extravagantly, as we have grown up surrounded by water and some do not believe that this vital liquid can be exhausted. Nowadays the PTAP is working at 3 l/s, thanks to the installation of micrometers that monitor water use.  In the past the storage tank got never fully filled, today it remains fullall the time. 

All this shows that teamwork with institutions and the community is possible and gives very good results. Our experience is a good example. Today I can tell the story of how the quality of life of all inhabitants in La Vorágine has improved.

Chedorlaomer Villa Ospina

Story send for the Story contest originally in Spanish

Ms. Nanu Maiya Giri sharing her expeteince

Earlier to this declaration, villagers were not aware on health and hygiene, and open defecation used to be rampant. After participating in a training programme on School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS), organized by Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) and UN Habitat, Nanu Maiya realized the importance of toilet in the surrounding communities of Chuna Devi School. She, thus, shared the knowledge gained from the training with other teaching staffs and her students at school, who later supported her in driving SLTS campaign in and around the school catchment.

The campaign conducted various activities including door to door visit, community orientation, and community consultation in school catchment area covering 278 household that enhanced community awareness on sanitation to the large. It helped the campaigners to convince many of community people, who expressed their interest to have toilet of their own and requested for necessary support.

50 EcoSan toilets

UN Habitat, Nepal Node for Sustainable Sanitation (NNSS) and DWSS came forward to support villagers to construct EcoSan toilets. Altogether 50 units of wet EcoSan toilets were constructed in the village with this support. The extension of these facilities benefited more than 250 inhabitants, who didn’t have toilet facility earlier.

One of the EcoSan toilets

Similarly, two units of urine collection system were installed in the village, one at Chuna Devi Lower Secondary School and another at Centre for Human Resource Development Unit (CHRDU), DWSS for demonstration of urine application. The school collects 4-5 thousand litre urine every month, while around 800 litre urine is collected from the system at CHRDU.

Urine collection tank

The villagers, who had only heard about urine application, started harvesting urine and applying in agriculture to supplement nitrogenous requirement of their cultivation after these constructions. The faeces will also be utilized as a soil conditioner.  These practices helped community people decrease their dependency on chemical fertilizer; taught them the way to utilize human excreta; and helped them to grow organic food. Moreover, it brought behavioural change among villagers; decreased open defecation remarkably and improved health condition by improving environmental sanitation in the communities.

Observing social map at school

It soon impressed other community people, who also started demanding for support to construct toilet at their homes. Responding to their demand, DWSS provided necessary support to the villagers. Additional five units of EcoSan toilet were constructed with this support, while remaining 20 units are under construction.

The success that the campaign gained and the improvement it brought in sanitation situation in these communities motivated Nanu Maiya and other campaigners to increase their dedication in the campaign. They are now making a broad vision to declare Nagarkot VDC as a whole ODF. Therefore, they have recently expanded their catchment area to Pipalbot and Lamatole. They are constructing 40 units of EcoSan toilets in these new communities in their first phase and planning to expand activities gradually.

Story submitted for the Source story contest by UN-Habitat Water for Asian Cities Programme Nepal, E-mail: unhabitat.nepal@unhabitat.org.np

Each story should identify a problem or situation, the key interventions and the outcomes and should, whenever possible, be accompanied by a picture.

Bring recognition for a particular intervention in your community

Getting your story published will let you share your experiences with others around the world, will establish you as author and bring recognition for a particular intervention in your community. They will also be of value to E-Source in broadening our coverage.

Stories selected by the Source editorial committee will be posted on one of two websites (or both). These are: E-Source and the Voice of Communities’ blog.

Reward for top three stories

The authors of the top three selected stories (English, French or Spanish) will be awarded a financial reward of 50 Euro and may also be published online in E-Source and on paper in the appropriate Source Bulletin.

The editorial committee of IRC will select the winners, based on their own judgement, but also taking into account the number of page views a story receives on the E-Source website.

We have posted guidelines to help you get the best out of your experience and these can be found on-line at .

Lack of water is a constant problem in the Southern zone of Cochabamba since the water network from the public company Semapa does not reach us.  We could perhaps have managed to attract a project to bring us water supply, but it would take a long time and we feared that we would be disregarded by the authorities. So we followed the path that some neighbours have taken to organise themselves and form a water committee to tackle the lack of drinking water.

Our Community Association for Drinking Water and Sanitation was formed on April 22 2007, as a public service community association with charitable status. Its primary purpose is to administrate, operate and maintain the drinking water system and keep it clean. This association has managed to supply water to the districts between the rivers, Trafalgar, Santa Fe and part of Bello Horizonte (Villa Payer-District 14), about 45 minutes bus ride from the city centre.

To solve the problems in my community we needed to clear the route dig, clean and put the whole thing together. This community effort was the only way to obtain good results.

Four years after the association was formed it has 748 active members who receive their water supply from two tanks, each of 125,000 litres, on a small hill nearby. A road to the tanks was built by the community so that water tankers can fill them. This had become a difficult task in rainy periods due to the chalky ground.

Before the association was formed, we and our neighbours were at the mercy of the good or ill-will of the private water carriers, who controlled the water tankers. The neighbourhood organised itself to manage the installation of a distribution network and the two tanks, creating a Steering Committee to oversee the work.

The water association finances itself through tariffs that are paid for installations, through projects, donations and through a sum paid by the actual or future associates.

Community management is not simple. It is difficult to achieve consensus and get agreement but we are really convinced that united we are strong, divided we fall. Our system has now been working for 18 months. We consider it to be a great achievement but we know that we still face big challenges, like for example the sustainability of the system. We need to obtain technical advice and raise the awareness of water users, some of whom waste water.

To ensure that we can continue to improve, in 2010 the association started participating in the Yaku South project that provides specialised technical support.

One of the first activities this year was cleaning the distribution network, with the support of a technician from the Environmental Water Centre of the Greater University of San Simón. The whole community participated in this work and the costs of purchasing water and the necessary chlorine was covered by the association’s own funds. On 22 April 2011 we celebrated four years of intense work, with adventures and mix-ups but mainly with friends who had bet on the success of community water management.

Author:  Sonia Colque

Summary:

*including village with treatment but exploiting no-data

(Source: Data people by census report’s health center)

20 villages in poor region

The Far North province has a land surface 32’600 km² to 34’246 km² (according to different sources) and is composed of six departments. The departments affected by the cholera epidemic were Mayo-Sava and Diamaré. The sphere of activity covers 424 km². Far- North province is a poor region because the cacao and coffee are cultivated more in the South of the country. Most of the people live from their own production.

The population of Cameroun is more than 19 million (2009) and only 6% live in the far-North. The total population concerned by this case study is about 29’061 people. The team on charge of “bucket’s chlorination” lived in Kolofata, a town with a public health center.

The following 20 villages situated in the department of Mayo-Sava received “bucket’s chlorination” treatment:

Boudua, Sand.Wagiri, Cheripourri, Aladjiri, Kouyape, Gouzoudou, Meme, Talkomari, Gance, Satome, Bia, Biabiabline, Bame, Meleri, Bakarisse , Kassa, Galda, Blabline, Gangawa, Kachmri, Maguirare.

Women washing in river

The methodology

“The Bucket’s chlorination” is a method for reducing the spread of cholera. This lethal disease derives from a bacteria (vibrio cholera). The vibrio, which can be spread by water must be treated (more information on: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/).  An effective treatment for water is to add « chlorine ».

In Africa, one problem is that most of the water is not treated, even in distribution pipes. Therefore a lot of pathogen can be carried by water. In the villages in this case study, all the population drawn water from wells. There is tap water in only 2 villages, but in this case, the water is sold.

In order for the water to be treated effectively the following rules should be followed:

• Each new case of cholera is checked by the health center
• The health center informed the „center chlorination“ team
• The team goes to the village, analyses the water and checks the wells
• Those communities affected by the disease, all wells receive a water treatment.

All wells need to receive a treatment in each village. In the village, all wells are checked. The water is analyzed (pH, conductivity, turbidity) and a plan for chlorination is established by the team. In each village a guardian is chosen for each well to care about the chlorination process. The guardian receives some explanations and material. During the treatment: process, he stays close to the well and treats water inside the bucket drawn by people.

This intervention has monitored different patterns of water’s use and consumption. An average could be estimated at 17 liters per person, which corresponds to the average consumption in Africa.

Open well

The uses of drawn water are mainly drinking and cooking, sometimes washing. Usually, people continue to go mainly to Mayo for washing (body or clothes). This custom has a non-desirable impact on public sanitation and water quality.

This study was completed during in a very short period and at the end of the wet season. Does the population change its practices during the dry season? Without any field research, it is difficult to know, but when Mayo’s river is dry, there is no doubt that the population changes its customs.

Conclusion

Knowledge about water consumption is prerequisite for actions to establish water protection. Information is necessary to evaluate the needs of the population to create new facilities. To know the rules and habits is most important for the success on realization.

The Cameroun’s demography grows quickly. A new report alarms the authority about the depletion of groundwater resources (geophysical research: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2010/2010GL044571.shtml). Drawing too much water could contribute to depletion. Groundwater resource should be protected and preserved.

Several studies and reports show that women (with children) are the ones, who draw water. Consequently they are the first to  undergo the lack of it as well as the hardness in drawing water and this irrefutable fact, prevents them to go to school, and they have not another choice than to be housewife.

Women and young girls collecting water

To assure the durability of water resources, integrated suitable water management should be a priority. That is the assurance for a future of the population. Water resource management has many compounds that need to be addressed.

http://letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/fa0dd6b2-eddb-11df-9672-ef0f04753c78|1

http://www.tropicultura.org/text/v26n4/224.pdf

Patricia Aline HUGONIN, Ingénieure HES, dipl. EPFL, Water specialist, [pat.hugonin@gmail.com]

At first I was in difficult times as we had no money, until I joined the Community Health Club started by Zimbabwe AHEAD Organisation and we were taught how to self realise. We called our club ‘Rujeko’ meaning Light!  I attended the health sessions every week for six months and learnt about so many things. It gave me light to understand how to prevent diarrhoea, bilharzia, malaria, skin diseases, worms, even HIV/AIDS but most of all how to care for our family with good hygiene. I completed all 20 health lessons and graduated with my certificate in 1996.  The next year my children and I dug a pit latrine and our own deep well. Later I put in a handpump on the well from the money I earned. I became the Chairperson for our club in 1998.

In our meetings we learned how to improve our way of living and we applied this knowledge. We were given homework every week to improve our lifestyle. I built a pot rack for drying the plates off the ground. I dug a rubbish pit, and kept my yard clean. My kitchen is so beautiful, with homemade clay shelves and everything laid out well. My water is covered properly and we take drinking water carefully with a ladle. We know unsafe water, dirty food, and dirty hands cause diarrhoea. Our children are no longer sick due to poor hygiene.

An immaculate kitchen inside a mud hut

In 1999, every club member was trained with a skill to enable us to make money for ourselves. We learnt how to sew mosquito nets, and others learnt how to press oil to make soap. In our areas over 100 people joined a paper-making project. My two children were also trained and got a full time job making paper. During difficult times in Zimbabwe this helped us to survive as they went to Harare and made paper there.

In our club some were trained how to keep bees. We must plant wood lots if we keep bees, because bees need trees, so this makes our area very green. I started with just a mud hut, but with my income from selling vegetables and herbs, I built a four-bedroom house, making my own bricks and roofed with iron sheets. All have nutrition and herb gardens and I now have drip irrigation. I am earning as much as an office worker from selling vegetables, herbs and honey

Something very important to me as a woman, is caring for the home and the children. I myself paid for their school fees up to ‘O’ level.  I even told them if you want something like a better life you must have skills. So all my children joined the clubs, even all my friends were in the club and we were together every week meeting and planning our projects. I am happy and I just feel free, and pleased with every activity. I am self-reliant now because I have knowledge and skill to live well.

Our health club always assists those who have problems in the village. We also know how to cure small infections suffered by people living with AIDS. I am now a District Nutrition Trainer for ZimAHEAD. I train the carers how to handle the clients and care for the sick. I have over 70 varieties of herbs in my garden, and I know all the names, and how to use them. I help families to organise their lives when someone dies. We help each other with funerals through a revolving loan. When there are funerals in the village, those in the health clubs always cook as we know how to be hygienic and prevent cholera and diarrhoea. As health club members we often support those orphans without parents and the widows lacking food with our own produce, and with clothes.

Strong women: Community Health Club Women celebrate getting a certificate for completing 6 months health sessions, with Project Co-ordinator Josephine Mutandiro (left) and trainers: Mrs Toriro (Center) and Mrs  Rezen (right).

Our health training stopped five years ago but we continue to meet every week to plan our projects. We play netball, we remind ourselves of good practice and have competitions for the best home. In our ward there are 20 health clubs just like Rujeko with over 100 members in each. In Makoni District there are over 200 health clubs with about 20,000 members. There are many women like me with smart, clean homes and healthy children who will survive and be strong. I was happy with what I have done with my time on earth, even though I too have the terrible disease called AIDS and must die soon.

Epilogue:

Mrs Toriro died in 2010 from AIDS but she set a fine example by her energy and dedication to the community, and many came to her funeral. Though her own hard work she raised herself and her family up and although she died prematurely she was happy with her life and is remembered throughout Makoni District. As she once said to me, ‘I am not nobody now’. We send you her story which she dictated for us, so that her example can act as an inspiration far beyond her own area. One women on her own is often powerless, but there is nothing stronger than a group of motivated ladies.

Amai Toriro and Juliet Waterkeyn

I would write about my experience on water issue of two different places where I stayed in a span of one month. I was selected as an ICICI Fellow designate which is a rural leadership fellowship programs for the citizens of India. During the initial training period of one month I visited one village in Pune district of Maharastra state of India named Bhambarde. This is the place which records the maximum rainfall in the state. Situated at the one of the most beautiful and serene environments at the hill-top, the village just looks at the pouring water flow down-hill and hence goes water scarce in the non-rainy time of the year.

Now moving on to the next place; Bheel Basti at Delwara (I am being sent to stay here and work with the people for the duration of 20 months), a village in Rajasmand district in the state of Rajasthan was nothing different from most of the villages of India. The cluster of Bheels, the scheduled tribes, was situated at a high altitude in one of the worst water scarce areas of the country. Nearest water body was situated at 2 km from the cluster and there too they have had to wait for long hours to get the water as they belonged to the lower caste and lower caste people are not allowed to take water ahead of other people even at public water storage structures. While the right to water for them was denied to them at other places only because they belonged to some lower caste of society. Women, they were used to bear all the problems and waiting in the heat for Water.

Men, they had to look after the family earnings and for this they worked as labors and children, they accompanied their mothers to this. This was the status of the place some 2 years before. Now; In summer 2010, the problem of water scarcity was common throughout the state of Rajasthan but not here. As now they have a Water storage tank of their own to which the water is pumped by an electric water pump and distributed by the water pipeline and taps and they own the whole system. Now women work with their men that increased the household income and children have time to attend school.

After looking at these two situations, I tried to find out the difference. Then basic finding was that the change was not easy as it never is. The basic difference was the approach of the people. Delwara consists of 36 different castes, communities and religions which was a ground of many traditional discriminatory practices like not allowing tribal people to share water source with other higher caste. But still they solved their problems and while the people of Bhambarde, all belonging to the similar caste, class and occupation has failed to do so till now. Bheel Basti despite being a water-scarce place succeeded to come up with the solution while Bhambarde with very good rains, is still searching for their solution.

The basic difference being the people at Bheel Basti-Delwara fought for their right to water, and fought hard and long, never succumbing to the pressure. They did get support from the local NGO Seva Mandir and also some other villagers but they were the ones who made it happen. There were so many clashes, so many fights, bureaucratic hurdles as recollects one woman from the community, Basanti Bai, “Time was so tough and the pressure was so much that we couldn’t even prepare food. But then the unity worked with the support from some of the people from other castes and Seva Mandir“. Finally, after a struggle of two long years the panchayat (local village governing body) agreed to set up the pump and pipeline to the water tank while Seva Mandir-the NGO supported the effort by constructing the water tank and setting up the distribution line and taps. And now the whole system is being governed by the local community of Bheels and they have the fixed monthly rentals on each household for water usages which contributes to their own mohalla (cluster) account which they have opened in the bank which they utilize for repair and maintenance. This could have been possible only through the grit and determination of the community and their desire to develop something for them.

While on the other hand; talking to the people of Bhambarde I found that they had many things to complain against the system and bureaucracy but what they did was only complaining. It was not as if they didn’t try but somewhere there trials were not that much forceful and they kind of sat on the sidelines thinking that they are only meant to suffer.

From these two cases the things which pops out is that there are two ways to live your life; One, whatever is happening let it happen just complain , and the other one being to take the initiative to bring around the change yourself. It is like every democratic system of our world has the thing included in it which can improve the way of living but the only thing which decides for that is the fact whether the most important leg of the democracy is strong enough to take the responsibility or not? And that “most important leg” is the common man’s. The simplest thing is like “we” are the problem and “we” are the solution as well. So, let’s unite and make the system work the best as we also are responsible for the laid back systems because if it can happen at Bheel Basti, Delwara then it can happen anywhere…

“Be the change you want to see in the world”

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Nitesh Anand (nitesh.anand@icicifellows.org)