Turning on the Taps

“I was nearly 50 years old, and I’d lived a life of drudgery,” says Basanti, mother of four, who lives in a village in the hills of Dhading. “The main reason for my struggles was that we had no water source in our village.”

Basanti would wake at 4:00 in the morning to walk 45 minutes down a trail to a stream where she collected water for her family. Then, after working all day in the fields, she would make the trek again in the evening, often returning home after dark.

Her life began to change when staff of Shanti Nepal encouraged villagers to identify the pressing needs in their community by forming groups and holding discussions. Although she was shy and unused to speaking up, Basanti joined the mothers’ group. Not surprisingly, water was at the top of everyone else’s list too.

So a campaign began: to bring water to the village and to build simple outdoor taps for households. Shanti Nepal would provide expertise and materials, while villagers would provide manpower (and woman-power) for construction.

The water project was more than just the hardware though. It also included practical workshops that explained the impact of hygiene, sanitation, and waste management on the health of individuals and of their whole community. Basanti attended these sessions with great interest. She had never been to school before, and she felt she was finally getting an education!

Basanti was one of the first to construct a tap for her family. Turning it on the first time was like a literal unleashing of blessings. She had water at her fingertips! She had a new lease on life!

From that day, Basanti has taken great pride in keeping her tap area and surroundings clean. That includes the outhouse. People say her home is a model for the community. Furthermore, she has become the leader of the mother’s group, convincing others to take extra steps to keep their environment clean and free of waste.

Over 30 households in Basanti’s village now enjoy accessible water. “We are grateful to Shanti Nepal for bringing water to us, and for giving us knowledge and practical skills which are important for our daily life,” she says. “Now it is up to us to use them.”

Shanti Nepal is a Nepali Christian organization with decades of experience in wholistic community development. For over 20 years DDHCFN has provided periodic small grants to support new projects that bring positive change — in the overall health of communities and in the personal lives of individuals like Basanti.