Village Life Improvement – Northern India – Year 4

This project is now in its final year, focusing on three key aspects that contribute to poverty in remote villages in northern India: a lack of access to clean water, a lack of sanitation facilities and food insecurity. Our partner has ambitious plans to work in 20 villages in the area. Wisdom dictated a small start to see how the projects were embraced by the local communities and to learn from the previous years what needs to change as the project rolls out. Our partner initially built two water systems in two villages to provide easy and quick access to clean water for these villages. In four other villages they worked with the village women to construct green houses to grow vegetables. The vegetables improve nutrition (a major issue in this area) and provide cash crops for sale to the nearest big town. Twenty latrines were constructed in four villages and the villagers were given sanitation and hygiene training. Year 3 and 4 will see a further 20 latrines, 6 water systems, and 5 green-houses constructed.

We love that this project is targeting the keys to breaking poverty in this area. We also really appreciate the wise way each village has been chosen. By choosing villages where success is most guaranteed, our partner is building enthusiasm for other villages to participate. We value the holistic nature of our partner’s approach, working on interlinked issues which, when solved together, provide the greatest chance for breaking intergenerational poverty.

$13,000. This budget will cover the cost of constructing the latrines, water systems and green- houses, as well as seeds and modest salaries for the workers undertaking the project management (a lot of the work will be undertaken by the villagers themselves).

This is an extremely poor part of India. The men of the villages are often away in larger towns trying to earn an income to send home. There are no toilets or taps, and electricity is rare. Women work hard in the fields and then have to travel long distances to collect drinking water. Changing weather patterns have resulted in reduced crop yields, therefore malnutrition is a major problem. The lack of sanitation and clean water means health is poor for everyone, but particularly for pregnant women and infants.