By Khimchand Sanjo
Kamangar is a small village in Union Council Qazi Aarif of District Dadu. The village has 212 households, belonging to different castes, including Kamangar, Jiskani, Waka, Sayed and Chutta. The people of the village have been living with peace and harmony for long time.
The biggest problem of the village, like many others in the surroundings, was access to clean drinking water. Women would spend hours fetching water from a place 2 kilometers away.
“Living without easy access to clean drinking water was very difficult. Small girls from our families had to accompany us to fetch water every day under the scorching sun. It was a drain on our time and health”, said women of the Kamagar village, when asked to explain the situation.
Five months ago, Thardeep Rural Development Programme (TRDP) sent a team to the village to conduct a programme introduction dialogue under the European Union funded SUCCESS Programme. The TRDP team asked the women of the village to form an organisation and start saving money. The locals were told that by coming together for collective good, and saving money, they can help themselves in many different ways.
The idea was appealing to the locals. The women formed their own community organisation.
A meeting of the community organisation is underway
“After forming the Community Organisation, we started to meet every month”, said the women. “During the meetings, we discussed our issues and also deliberated on how to resolve them.”.
Meanwhile, the office bearers of the CO, chosen by the members, were getting trained in Community Management Skills Training (CMST). Within two months, the women agreed to join hands with CO members from neighboring settlements, forming a federation of COs, known as Village Organisation. The VO was named Urooj, meaning zenith, or climax, in Urdu. The name was reflective of the higher ambitions the locals had set for themselves, after getting exposure to a world of possibilities, by coming together.
“The VO platform provides us the opportunity to meet with each other and discuss the issues of our village. Before the VO formation, we hardly met or talked to the women from other castes. We were happy staying confined to our own neighbourhoods”, said a VO member.
The VO leaders, representing various Community Organisations (COs) were getting more exposure and training, conducted by TRDP. Ms Zahida, President of Urooj, realised by participating in the trainings that the issue of access to clean drinking water is foundational and needs to be resolved on priority basis.
The issue was discussed during the VO meeting, and consensus was developed. The second step was mobilising the CO members for self-help.
“We approached all COs of our village and started collection of money for installation of pipeline and hand pump in our village. Though it was not easy task for us but our determination made it possible”, said Zahida.
“We collected Rs. 38,000 and installed a pipeline, connecting our village to the water source, located two kilometers away. Now, a hand pump is installed in the mid of our Mohalla (neighbourhood), and women can easily take water to their houses. 40 households are benefiting from the facility”, said Zahida.
Women taking water to their homes from the newly installed hand pump
The self-initiative of VO Urooj helped the women and they became successful in developing a sustainable source of clean and safe drinking water for themselves.
“Now, the women of our village do not need to travel far and wide to collect water. They have free time at their disposal now. We are planning more development initiatives for our village, because the issues are many”, said Zahida.