Hello, I am Aastha Naidu. A 14 year an old student from Euroschool Thane.
Nearly 163 million of India’s population of 1.3 billion lack access to clean water close to home. And the brunt of this is faced by Indian women and girls every single day.
Indian women take up to six trips a day to gather and transport water with the average time being up to 4 hours. These walks in rural regions can average 10km a day, carrying up to fifteen litres every trip. The women load jars or buckets on their heads to carry water. The pressure, added with the distance to water sources create a large number of problems. These women are indicative of the many-armed Hindu goddess Durga -they have so many daily tasks, they could doubtless do with an extra set of hands. But they aren’t the exception, and this gender-specific role has a severe impact on every aspect of their lives, from their health and social life to education and their ability to have a real say in the community.
In fact, it is common for girls in rural India to drop out of school, so as to help carry out the burden of moving water. Girls as young as ten contribute to household tasks.
A simple device known as the water wheel, made of human-safe polyethylene reduces the physical strain on a female, guarantees time saving, provides the family or more importantly the women opportunities to take up jobs and help socio-economically. It enables a child to go to school. To put it simply, I don’t think education should be denied to any girl so she can stay home and do chores and Article 21 of the Indian constitution defies that too.
“Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up bringing the biggest change. Tiptoe if you must, but take a step.” Because a journey of even a 1000 miles starts with one step :)
Thank you.