"We are raising 3.3L INR to fund 100 Water Wheels to improve the lives of 100 women in the drought hit town of Ghansargaon (Near Latur) in Maharashtra".
A contribution of 3000 INR from you will change the life of 1 women!
Deficient rainfall, badly managed resources and an abject depreciation in the ground water has caused widespread drought and devastation to the farmers and their agricultural prospects across India. One of the most affected regions has been Marathwada in Maharashtra.
Whatever little water is available to these farmers is usually a long way away from where they live. Carrying pots of water on their head, every day, for a lifetime is an age old way of carrying water from wells to their homes in Villages all across the nation.
It is not only painful but time consuming. Not only is fetching this water a tedious process, but due to the ergonomics of the water pots, it also leads to a wastage of water. The Water Wheel solves this drudgery forever. Help us make lives easier!
Lakshmibai Neel (42) lives in Porgaon village located in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) with her husband and 3 children. Throughout her life she has known only one way of fetching water - walking miles to the nearest well and carrying 10-20 litres of water in the steel pots over her head. She has grown up watching her mother and other women from the community doing the same. The situation is worse in the summer when the wells dry up and there is hardly any water for all the villagers. Carrying water day in and day out has taken a heavy toll on her health. She started suffering from severe backache. As a result, she was unable to help her husband in their farm. This in turn affected their livelihood as well.
In 2015, Habitat for Humanity India provided Water Wheels to 500 villagers in Aurangabad. Lakshmibai’s family was one among the several families who benefitted from this intervention. The Water Wheel makes it easy to fetch water from the nearest drinking water source. One need not carry the weight over ones head, instead it can be simply pulled or pushed. The water wheel saves Lakshmibai the trouble of lifting 20-30 litres of water every single day. It also allows her to carry more water in one trip. Each Water Wheel has the capacity to carry 45 litres of water. Many a times, her husband and children also share the responsibility and fetch water.
Lakshmibai now uses her time to mobilize the local community to work towards the common welfare activities in the village. She organizes meetings with farmers, promotes savings groups, helps establish small and micro-enterprises and organizes workshops related issues such as organic farming, water conservation and so on. Nowadays, even the men in the village have started taking the responsibility to fetch water which was seen as a woman’s task. The Water Wheel has therefore become a vehicle for development.
WHAT IS THE WATER WHEEL?
A Water Wheel is basically a large, round water drum that has been fitted with handles so that it can be rolled along the ground.
Water Wheel is designed keeping everybody in mind. It is very easy for women and even children to roll for a distance. It has wide mouth which facilitates easy pouring and easy cleaning. It also has a unique cap-in-cap design which keeps water clean.
Water Wheel has the capacity to carry 45 litres of water at a time (Dimension: 630mm x 560mm); it is two times more efficient than carrying water on one’s head. Being able to carry this much of water in one go also cuts down on the number of trips that need to be taken. The reinforced axles protect the Water Wheel's skin from wear and tear.
The Water Wheel is made up of high quality materials, food grade human-safe high density polyethylene and has a balanced size. Its shape is designed to increase the performance over tough terrains. It also has handholds which allows for better handling while filling + emptying the Water Wheel.
WHO ARE WE?
Habitat for Humanity’s work involves more than building new single and multi-family dwellings. Habitat “housing solutions” include rehabilitating or repairing homes, as well as incremental building – upgrading a floor or adding a new roof until a family can afford more. As Habitat seeks to meet housing needs around the globe, the organization has become active in rebuilding following natural and man-made disasters, housing microfinance, advocacy, weather proofing, disaster mitigation and preparedness, technical training, environmentally-sustainable and low-cost construction technologies, and water and sanitation projects.
OUR PLAN:
In the next 6 months, we plan to roll out the Water Wheel to as many people as 100 families in The correct village name is Ghansargaon. Ghansargaon is located in Renapur Tehsil of Latur district in Maharashtra, India. It is situated 9km away from sub-district headquarter Renapur and 24km away from district headquarter Latur. (The total geographical area of village is 754.49 hectares. Ghansargaon has a total population of 2,507 peoples. There are about 527 houses in Ghansargaon village. Latur is nearest town to Ghansargaon which is approximately 24km away.). The average annual household income here is less than INR 40,000. Women in this village have to walk a distance of at least 1000 meters to the nearest well, to fetch water for their family. Not only are we looking to supply the Water Wheel, but we will also be training the people in the use of the apparatus and observing how this works. This due diligence is being maintained so that we can make any necessary improvements to further the success of this project.
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