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GUJARATI WOMEN ORGANIZE TO FIND WATER
Mahiti project, Gujarat, India. Planning the next steps. Women's groups enhance women's ability to participate fully in community development. Our story takes place in a village called Moti Morsal, in Gujarat, India. The village is comprised of 146 families belonging to Talapda Koli tribe � one the poorest families in the region. This village is settled on the bank of the seasonally rain-fed Bhogavo River, which hardly fulfills needs during the monsoon season. The monsoon rains are the only source of water during monsoon season. However, in the summer and with onset of winter, the river dries up and the villagers have no other source to get clean water. It is women's responsibility to collect water. They wait in an endless queue, taking hours to get their turn at filling pots from the riverbed. The village women dug virdas (holes) in the dry riverbed to collect water, but in summer these virdas become dry. Women of Moti Morsal village were traveling more than four miles to get water from government tanks. Frequently, they had to wait more than six hours in a queue to get their turn. The village women approached the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (India) to deal with this water scarcity issue. In the adjoining village of Maghrikhada, AKRSP(I) had assisted villagers in constructing roof rainwater harvesting structures. This technology is very simple. During rainy season, rain falling on the roof of the houses is trapped through a pipeline that goes underground to above ground tanks, where the water is treated and made available for drinking as well as domestic purposes. This water is stored and used during the dry season. The women of Moti Morsal wanted the same technology that AKRSP introduced in Maghrikhada village. AKRSP(I) asked the village women to form a village level committee and partner with AKRSP. Initially, the village men formed a village level committee, and discouraged women from participating. But the Moti Marsal women were not deterred and created an informal group consisting of 15 members. This membership increased to 30 in a few months. In 1999, this informal group has been given the formal status of an association (called Mahila Vikas Mandal), and under this association a sub-committee was formed called Pani Samiti to deal with the water issues of the village. These members were exposed to the AKRSP's work and trained masons from this village in roof water harvesting structure construction. The people of Moti Morsal have benefited from AKRSP's help. 62% of the households have installed the rainwater harvesting systems. This appropriate technology has reduced women's workload and also conserved vital rainwater in a very unforgiving climatic region.
An initiative of Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A
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