We are delighted that our first project with Just a Drop to provide a clean water supply and toilets to a village in India is now completed. Two hundred and seventy-five households now have access to clean water via the building of a new borehole well and installation of a village wide distribution system. Before the project villagers had access to water for 1 hour a day via a central pump, now everyone has their own household tap and access 24 hours 7 days a week.
Before this project open defecation was practiced throughout the village with no access to enclosed toilets. The impact of this on the health of the village was substantial. With our support individual toilets have been constructed for six families, using the twin pit model. All of the families are very happy and feel proud to have the toilets and a bathing area by their house.
The six families will act at models to the rest of the village. This use of model families is considered a highly effective intervention as the Indian Government is providing incentives for families to build a proper toilet for themselves but most people have little idea what to build and so are unable to access the support. Just a Drop and their partners in India will continue to support everyone in the village to access these government funds. In a previous Just a Drop project, 76% of families have secured grants to build toilets.
The project also covered renovation work at the village school. Twin pit toilets were excavated and constructed, the floor was tiled and a roof added providing much needed privacy for the students.
Each element of the project ensures that adequate and safe sanitation facilities are available to the village and that everyone has an ample supply of clean drinking water. With this is place the following outcomes are expected:
- An improvement in the hygiene of the village through the reduction in open defecation
- A reduction in diseases caused by drinking unsafe water
- An increase in the number of girls attending school due to better facilities and less time being spent collecting water