Success Story of Water Well Project
Water is one of the most precious commodities and is an important necessity for the humans, animals and plants. All the people have the right to have access to the clean drinking water. Friends Pakistan completed a Drinking water Supply Scheme through digging water well at village Makria Sharif, Union Council Shinkiari, District Mansehra. The work on this Water Well Scheme was completed on February 19, 2009.
The village of Makria Sharif is located about one and half kilometer away towards the Northeastern part from the town of Shinkiari. The total number of the house holds living in the village of Makria Sharif is fifty. Total Direct Beneficiaries of the project are three hundred and fifty (350) people of the village in which one hundred and Sixty eight (168) are male and one hundred and eighty two (182) are female.
The main occupations of the villagers are agriculture, livestock and labor work. This settlement has two Community Organizations and one water management Committee which was constituted from the already existent two CBOs. This scheme of water supply was completed in record period of two months instead of all hurdles and extreme weather conditions.
At the village of Makria Sharif Shinkiari, villagers did not have access to nearby clean potable water. They had to work hard for their water, often fetching it from far-off sources and using it extremely carefully and sparsely. The time and efforts spent on collecting water was a double burden on them, as less time was then available to them for livelihood activities.
The river /water source on which the villagers of Makria Sharif did rely was approximately one (1) and half KM away from the villagers. They were using this water for drinking, bathing, laundering clothes and defecation. Little water was used for cleaning, toilets and sanitation as it was fetched from distance. The quality of water of river was not good, as it passes through dense populations preceding to the village of Makria Sharif, on account of which the water was getting contaminated. As a result, population of the village was suffering from different diseases on account of less availability of water for cleaning purpose and using of contaminated drinking water of the river.
The activities undertaken by Friends Pakistan included the provision of clean, easily accessible potable water to the community of village Makria by digging water well for drinking as well as cleanining and sanitation to prevent the incidences of water born diseases. One hand pump was also installed on the water well for the provision of convenient, uncontaminated clean potable water within the village. Training and motivation of volunteers from within the communities was done to ensure the choosing of correct site for the well to ensure access to all villagers and collection of correct amount of gravel and sand for the Well construction. Awareness of the local community was raised about the effective use of water for drinking and overall cleanliness for the promotion of health and Hygiene through the identified Volunteers. Along with all these activities, a water management Committee (WMC) in the proposed village was constituted for the effective implementation of the project and monitoring of the quality and condition of the well for the sustainable positive impacts of the project.
From last two decades the community of this village was deprived from pure and clean drinking water. With the construction of one well and installation of one hand pump on it at the village Makria Sharif, clean potable water is available at the door step to the inhabitants of this village as the completion of this scheme is saving time of women and children. They are now using this time in productive and healthy activities. Women are now using this time in learning and improving their indigenous skills, also using this time for improving their livelihood and supporting their males in income generating activities etc. Now females are also carrying out the Kitchen Gardening Exercise in near by small fields. Children of this settlement are quite happy because now they have extra time for playing games, completing their school assignments and taking part in other healthy activities.
Hygienic conditions before this scheme were not satisfactory due to shortage of water but now as water is available in sufficient amount for drinking, cooking, washing, cleaning etc so hygienic conditions improved in this area.
As a result of the awareness raising sessions, there came enormous behavioral and attitudinal changes in the target community. The community got better sense about the effective water usage for the improvement of cleanliness and health and hygiene situation in the area. One (1) Water Management Committee (WMC) consisting of seven (7) members became functional which took the responsibility of maintenance of water well for sustaining positive impacts of the water well at the village Makria Sharif under the supervision and control of which the water well project has been completed and ownership of the project has been ensured. This is the most important impact of this Water well scheme that community is organized and they find that success can be achieved through collective efforts and hard work. back
