Clean Water Campaign
According to UNICEF, women and girls spend approximately 200 million hours every day collecting water. This is a colossal waste of their valuable time. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation, Goal 6, calls for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030. We are doing our bit to help with this goal.
While they are busy collecting water, the women are not able to contribute positively to society and the girls spend their childhood away from school. This is one of the main reasons these families and communities are not able to get out of poverty.
PROVIDING CLEAN DRINKING WATER TO THE VILLAGE OF KESARGADH, GUJARAT, INDIA
The villagers in rural areas like Kesargadh, Gujarat do not have access to clean drinking water close to home. The women and children have to walk a number of hours each day, collecting water from a well at the outskirts of the village. This is a rigorous back-breaking job for the women and girls on a daily basis. One of the ladies told me that her three children were all sick from consuming the unhygienic water. She has had to endure this job of collecting water for years.
LifeStraw as a Solution
After some research, we discovered a solution that may drastically transform the lives of the villagers through a product called LifeStraw. LifeStraw is a portable water filtration system, which makes almost any water source safe to drink. According to studies, the device removes a minimum of 99.9999 percent of waterborne bacteria and pathogens and is verified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Additionally, LifeStraw contains no moving parts or batteries, meaning the filter does not expire. For the Indian villagers in Gujarat who live near unsanitary bodies of water, Lifestraws would prove beneficial and sustainable, significantly reducing the villagers’ chances of acquiring water-borne illnesses.
Goal
Our goal was to supply Lifestraws to school going kids and women in these rural areas. They could use their LifeStraws to obtain clean drinking water and drastically reduce their chances of acquiring water-borne illnesses. In addition, they would also avoid carrying heavy pots on their heads for 2-3 kilometers at a time, preventing spine injuries and improving their posture. The time saved would also enable the kids to attend school and the women to spend time on productive income-producing jobs.
Local Partner - Ashray Social Welfare Foundation
With the help of the Ashray Social Welfare Foundation and our donors, we were able to educate and distribute the first batch of 100+ LifeStraws to school children in rural areas of Gujarat. Our co-founder, Rohan Hirani, worked closely with the team from Ashray Social Welfare Foundation to ensure the distribution of the LifeStraws to the young students.
