Ignorance kept this village water-less for almost two months. The village hand-pump, which is a sole source of safe, hygienic drinking for many villages in India, was broken after wear and tear. However, the villagers did not know whom to approach in the government, in order to complain about the hand-pump and get it fixed. The villagers, especially women suffered a lot due to lack of water - they had to walk miles to get water.
However, equipped with the right knowledge and impetus from Video Volunteer's community correspondent Asha Devi, a group of women approached the needed government authority and solved the problem, getting the hand-pump fixed within a week; and putting an end to lack of safe, drinking water.
The whole story:
Educating the marginalised population about their rights and neccesary procedures to take the right action is one of the primary motives of Video Volunteers. When Video Volunteer's community correspondent from Bihar, Asha Devi chanced upon this village of 25 houses who was parched of water simply because of ignorance, she decided to take the matter in her own hands and solve it with the community.
She organised a meeting and educated the villagers about their rights and various approaches to solve their problems, and took a group of ladies to register the complain with the Block Development Officer. The hand-pump was fixed within a week of the complain, restoring the villager's faith in themselves and the Gram Panchayat.
With Asha's intervention and the women's new-found knowledge, the water-scarcity in Makarpur ended.
This video was made by Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Asha Devi from Bihar.
Community Correspondents come from marginalised communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ they give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.
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