Sunitha

Every morning is the same old routine for Sunitha. The crowing roosters and clucking hens make sounds outside her hut and as soon as the day...

Every morning is the same old routine for Sunitha.  The crowing roosters and clucking hens make sounds outside her hut and as soon as the day dawns she drags herself away from the warmth of her bed, piled on layer upon layer of clothing to keep out the bitter cold, and she heads outside to fetch water from the agricultural open well which is half a kilometer away from the village.

The agriculture open well is the only source of water for the 350 residents of Morechinchore village in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra State. This village is in such interior location that the villagers walk 3 kilometers to take public transport.  This village have does not have any facility of potable water, roads school, primary health centre, electricity and drainage also.

Prakash Gangadhar Alhat and his wife Sunitha belong to this Morechinchore village. They live in a poorly built house, thatched with palm leaves. They have 2 children – a daughter 5 years old and a son 2 years old. Theirs is a poor family and they survive on daily wage labor work. Since labor work is seasonal, Sunitha also takes up other work so that they don’t miss the opportunity to earn. They also rear cattle and goats to meet their mounting needs of their growing children.

Prakash Gangadhar has to leave his house for work at seven in the morning. Everyday Sunitha wakes up early in the morning to get water from the far away open agricultural well which is located ½ kilometer from her house. She goes on her bare foot walking through the agricultural fields on the narrow and slippery path along with her empty pots to get water from the agricultural open well. She reaches home carrying heavy pots, not to rest but to do other household chores of cooking, washing cleaning, taking care of  the children and looking after their livestock. Again in the evening she has to fetch water. Thus Sunitha’s life is sheer drudgery. She has to get 2 barrels of water every day for the family as well as for the cattle and goats. At the well she has to be cautious while drawing water from the well because the open well is not a well-constructed one,  and there is a risk of falling in. When she comes to draw water she is constantly worried about her two-year old son whom she had to leave unattended at home.

This is the case of many people in the village. As the villagers struggled to get used to this routine, it wasn’t proving very helpful. The solution came to the village through a Pastor who occasionally visits this village- Pastor Pahilwan. He approached OBI with the problem; On hearing about this, the Living Water team conducted the survey and installed a hand pump in the village. Incidentally the hand pump was very near to Sunitha’s house. When she saw this pleasant surprise, she was thrilled that she would not have to fetch water all the way from the agricultural open well. It meant she would have enough time to relax and spend time with her children. All the villagers along with Sunitha were very happy for the hand pump and expressed their gratefulness to the team.