A tale of two villages
Moniza Inam
A tale of two villages
A case study shows the gendered impact of installing a solar-powered well
Bolri Bheel and Lobhar are two water-stressed villages in Tharparkar district near Mithi, where a prolonged drought is in its third consecutive year. There is a fundamental difference between the two though as Bolri Bheel has a solar-powered well which provides sweet drinking water whereas in Lobhar, women and girls have to walk long distances to fetch water.
The availability of water has changed the social dynamics and livelihood indicators in Bolri Bheel especially for women and girls, who use, provide and manage water, hygiene and sanitation in their households.
In Lobhar women and girls walk for miles fetching and carrying the back-breaking weight of water. Such norms highlight the lack of women empowerment and skewed power dynamics in this highly patriarchal and caste-ridden community. In this arid region water is a resource which has a clout of its own and it is used as leverage to gain power and status.
Ramla Bai, a 40-something-year-old grandmother from Bolri Bheel describes her ordeal: “Before the installation of solar-powered wells in our village, I used to fetch water twice a day from a deep well with a long rope, a pulley and a pair of donkeys”. Bai points out that it was an arduous and monotonous task, and the water was brackish but they had no alternatives, so they used it.
Dr Sono Khangharani, the chief executive officer of Hisaar Foundation says that water derived from the pipes is always safer to use as there is a slim chance of contamination and it reduces the incidence of diarrhoea and water-borne diseases which are very common in the region and a main cause of child mortality.
Moreover, Thar has arsenic water which has perilous effects on skin, bladder, lung, liver, colon, kidney, blood pressure and stomach. Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed, the chief executive of Hands, an organisation working on women’s health in the district says that due to the contaminated water, women are also at risk of diarrhoea, hepatitis A and leptospirosis, a bacterial infection which is often transmitted through animal urine.
Rukmani, a young mother and Lobhar resident, who lost her newborn last December feels that her arduous journey to fetch water was partly to blame for the tragedy: “I put so many hours in bringing water that I was unable to give time to my child who was born as an underweight baby”.
She added that her two elder children are also malnourished due to lack of clean drinking water, she adds. The sanitation conditions in the village are also very pathetic and water remains a priced commodity.
Jadal, a 30-year-old woman who looks older than her age says, “Fetching water from long distances is not without risks as we always go in groups to avoid security hazards and harassment.”
Lewanti Bai, a lady health worker who visits many villages for her work, opines that in order to manage the water resources more effectively, the government should made conscious efforts to bring women into decision-making positions regarding the use of water.
Tech-based interventions as evident in the case of Bolri Bheel make life easier for women who are the most oppressed and overworked segment of this desert.
Khatau Jani, a Mithi-based journalist who covers these issues extensively, explains that if women get water delivered closer to their homes, through Reverse Osmosis plants and solar-powered wells, they can find more time for leisure activities and socialising, and can also participate in income-generating activities; a life-changing opportunity for those living at or below the poverty line.
For instance, Rahdha, a young woman from Bolri Bheel, adds that the well has entirely changed their lives as now they have more time on their hands — they are able to give more time to their children who can also now attend school as they don’t have to accompany the women to the wells.
Rahdha also manages a small kitchen garden, keeps some hens and a goat, and in her spare time embroiders and make quilts for a handicraft shop in Mithi. She uses this additional income on her children.
There are no cases of malnourishment and hunger in Bolri Bheel, and all children and women look healthier than earlier when they didn’t have solar-powered wells.
Jani points out that these kind of wells have a tremendous impact: “Even sanitary conditions improve tremendously with additional water and they also recycle used water for their kitchen gardens that enhances their calorie intake. The easy availability of water is a win-win situation for all.”
Kanta Kumari who has been working for the Thardeep Rural Development Programme in the arid region for the last 14 years, agrees that close access to water can be empowering for women: “The health, nutrition and sanitation conditions in this village have established this close correlation … yet again.” — Moniza Inam
Virgínia Brás Gomes
What a difference the solar powered well has made…
Tks, Moniza, for updating us!
Virginia
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Moniza Inam
Virgínia Brás Gomes
Look forward to the next article, Moniza.
Also just read the one on the Thar desert.
Keep up your excellent work!
Com os melhores cumprimentos,
Virgínia Brás Gomes
Técnica Superior
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De: safa-f...@googlegroups.com [mailto:safa-f...@googlegroups.com]
Em nome de Moniza Inam
Enviada: 28 de março de 2016 13:11
Para: safa-f...@googlegroups.com
Assunto: Re: {SAFA for ESCR} A tale of two villages
Hi Virginia,
When I was meeting these women in the desert I was reminded of our Leadership Institute in which we marked 'Asani's activities in a day. These women get up at the crack of the dawn and worked all day, fetching water and fodder from long distances and the fertility rate is so high that the average family size is 13 kids. It is unbelievable that in this age that they to suffer so much. Then they belong to the minority communities and scheduled castes. There are multiple layers of discrimination and deprivations. In the next article I will be discussing their health issues which are directly connected to their low status in society.
Love,
Moniza
On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 5:02 PM, Virgínia Brás Gomes <Virginia...@seg-social.pt> wrote:
What a difference the solar powered well has made…
Tks, Moniza, for updating us!
Virginia
De:
safa-f...@googlegroups.com [mailto:safa-f...@googlegroups.com]
Em nome de Moniza Inam
Enviada: 27 de março de 2016 09:08
Para: safa-core-committee;
safa...@googlegroups.com;
safa-f...@googlegroups.com
Assunto: {SAFA for ESCR} A tale of two villages
A tale of two villages
A case study shows the gendered impact of installing a solar-powered well
A
solar-powered well in Bolri Bheel has changed the lives of its residents
Moniza Inam
Shewli Kumar
Hi
It's a very interesting article and also shows the way as to how
addressing critical women's issues can bring about change in their
overall living situations.
Thanks for sharing
Warm wishes
Shewli
---
Associate Professor
Center for Women-Centered Social Work
School of Social Work
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
VN Purav Marg
Deonar
Mumbai-400088
Maharashtra
India
Ph: 91-9833583540
On 2016-03-28 17:41, Moniza Inam wrote:
> Hi Virginia,
>
> When I was meeting these women in the desert I was reminded of our
> Leadership Institute in which we marked 'Asani's activities in a day.
> These women get up at the crack of the dawn and worked all day,
> fetching water and fodder from long distances and the fertility rate
> is so high that the average family size is 13 kids. It is unbelievable
> that in this age that they to suffer so much. Then they belong to the
> minority communities and scheduled castes. There are multiple layers
> of discrimination and deprivations. In the next article I will be
> discussing their health issues which are directly connected to their
> low status in society.
>
> Love,
> Moniza
>
> On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 5:02 PM, Virgínia Brás Gomes
> <Virginia...@seg-social.pt> wrote:
>
>> What a difference the solar powered well has made…
>>
>> Tks, Moniza, for updating us!
>>
>> Virginia
>>
>> [mailto:safa-f...@googlegroups.com] EM NOME DE Moniza Inam
>> ENVIADA: 27 de março de 2016 09:08
>> PARA: safa-core-committee; safa...@googlegroups.com;
>> safa-f...@googlegroups.com
>> ASSUNTO: {SAFA for ESCR} A tale of two villages
>>
>> A TALE OF TWO VILLAGES
>>
>> A CASE STUDY SHOWS THE GENDERED IMPACT OF INSTALLING A
>> SOLAR-POWERED WELL
>>
>> Moniza Inam [1]
>> --
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>> Groups "SAFA for ESCR" group.
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>> send an email to safa-for-esc...@googlegroups.com.
>> To post to this group, send email to
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> Links:
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> [1] http://www.dawn.com/authors/5380/Moniza-Inam
> [2] https://groups.google.com/d/optout
azar abbasi
From: Shewli Kumar
Sent: 28/03/2016 19:55
To: safa-f...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Moniza Inam
Subject: Re: {SAFA for ESCR} A tale of two villages