Progress report Time to celebrate in Bahuntilpung...
...because every single person living in this poor region in Sindhuli district, Nepal, now has easy access to clean and safe water. Each of them also has somewhere safe and private to go to the toilet. Your generosity, the hard work of WaterAid’s partner NEWAH and all community members has made this possible.
WaterAid/Tom Van Cakenberghe
The remote mountainous regions of Nepal are home to some of the poorest and most marginalised communities in the world. With your support, WaterAid’s Project Cascade is providing the poorest families in rural Nepal with access to clean water and sanitation.
Dangerous journeys
Just one year ago, life for people in Bahuntilpung, a particularly poor region in the district of Sindhuli, Nepal, was very different. 92% of people didn’t have clean water to drink, and 88% of people had no choice but to defecate in the open. Women had to face dangerous journeys several times a day to collect water from the nearest stream. They would often get injured and diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water were common, especially with children.
Clean water nearby
Gravity flow technology has been used to pipe down clean water direct from its source, to a series of tapstands close to people’s houses. It’s now a short safe walk to collect water, and parents no longer have to risk their children’s lives by giving it to them.
Thank you!
This is a huge achievement, one which our team in Nepal is extremely proud of. Thank you so much for helping to make this possible.
Progress report
May 2012
New hope for father of five “How is the life of a poor person like me supposed to improve if I have to spend all my money on treating illnesses?” During our project visit in November 2011, we met Jit Bahadur Shrestha. Jit is a father of five, and lives in the remote mountainous village of Jogidanda, in the Bahuntilpung region of Sindhuli district, Nepal.
WaterAid/Tom Van Cakenberghe
Jit Bahadur Shrestra at the unsanitary water source used by his family in Jogidanda village. Access to clean water has been a huge problem in the area for generations. During our conversation, Jit explained the impact this was having on his family – he also showed us their water source, a filthy open pool. “My parents died from using the same kind of water so I am worried that we might also die. Both my parents died of diarrhoea; they could not get treatment because the family was too poor. I lost them both in just six months.
Increasing worries
“My wife and children have health problems all the time. My wife suffers from migraines and she cannot walk and talk for months. She has been sick for three years. I worry about using unsafe drinking water. We often get stomach pains and headaches. Two of my children are sleeping now because of headaches. I believe that drinking unsafe water and our problems with sanitation are the cause of these problems. “I really don’t know what to do when my family gets sick today and again tomorrow. My family is very poor and I have to go to work to earn our livelihood. My worries are increasing day by day. I am providing for treatment to my family but I have no ultimate treatment for them.
Achievements in water, sanitation and hygiene
Earn more
“Up till now I have spent much money, four or five thousand rupees (c.£30-£35) on their treatment and I am still trying to provide treatment today. I can earn as much as I can while I do the work but I cannot imagine what will happen to my life when I stop working.
What if...
“If we had water here I would cultivate vegetables and earn money by selling them and then I wouldn’t have to carry loads. If the drinking water becomes clean, the life of the village will be improved and I will be happy even though I am poor. We would have a good income, our children would go to school and study and we could live in a clean house. We could work properly and be able to save our income. If we had safe drinking water the spare money we would save on treatments would be spent on other ways to change our lifestyle.”
Update – April 2012
Jit is one of the people who lives in Jogidanda, a village in Bahuntilpung. The water source that he and his family were using has now been protected to prevent contamination. A tank has been constructed and a tapstand now provides the family with clean water, which our team has tested to ensure its quality.
Improving education:
“Now we have access to clean drinking water and have learned to live a healthy life. The improved situation has enhanced our confidence and now we are sure not to lose our children as we had lost our parents. Now my children shall never fall sick due to waterborne diseases.” Jit’s eldest daughter Sarita is happy with what the family have learned through the project, and the impact the WaterAid/Shashi Dev Shah clean water and proper sanitation are having: “Before, Jit’s second daughter Devi outside their newly constructed we used to be absent for latrine. several days in school due to sickness. But now, we are regular in school and able to read properly, thus improving our education.”
What’s next?
Over the next two years, our partner will continue working with community members in Jogidanda to make sure that change will be long term. We will ensure that that people are adopting good hygiene practices, and the new water and sanitation facilities are well maintained by working with the system caretakers we have trained.
Progress report
May 2012
Tosramkhola – new project under way
The remote region of Tosramkhola is home to some of Nepal’s poorest and most marginalised people. Also located in the mountainous Sindhuli district, villagers there live an incredibly tough and very basic life. Every single person we spoke to during our visit in November 2011 had been affected by a lack of clean water and sanitation – through the death of a family member from diarrhoeal diseases, medical treatment costs for sick children, or lifelong injuries from falling on the dangerous paths to collect water. The need for our support was very apparent. Thanks to your wonderful generosity, last month a new WaterAid-funded project started in Tosramkhola. The project will run for the next three years and benefit 962 people in the area.
What has been done
WaterAid/Shashi Dev Shah
Celebrating in Tosramkhola – all households are now using a latrine. The area will be declared as open defecation free when all households have a permanent latrine.
Already huge steps have been made to improve sanitation in Tosramkhola. 58 of the 79 households have built permanent latrines, whilst the remainder are using safe temporary latrines. We hope that by next month (June) 100% of households will have a permanent latrine and the area will be declared as open defecation free.
What’s next?
Over the coming months training and awareness activities will continue in Tosramkhola. Once the rainy season is over in October, construction will start on the gravity flow systems, bringing villagers clean, safe water for the first time in their lives. We’ll keep you updated!
Aims for Tosramkhola project Hygiene: • All adults and children will practice hand-washing. • Every household will have a dish drying rack. • 36 health and sanitation volunteers will be trained. Sanitation: • Every household will have a latrine, and the area will be declared as open defecation free. • Every household will have a washing slab. • Six sanitation masons will be trained. • A school latrine block will be built. Water: • Two gravity flow systems will be constructed. • Together with 34 tapstands, these will bring clean safe water close to people’s homes. • All water points will be tested to ensure water quality. Principles of project: Poor, lower caste, excluded and marginalised households will be prioritised to ensure they are first to benefit. Registered charity numbers 288701 (England and Wales) and SC039479 (Scotland)