Water In Your Back Pocket

An article by Caleb    2 Comments

By Carl Worthington

In March this year I had the privilege of visiting villages in Paratawada, India. Each of these remote rural communities are served in different capacities through TEAR Fund NZ and their partner EFICOR. A large part of their vision is to provide water to the impoverished local people through water harvesting techniques.

It was very hot the day we visited the Mazarkapadi Village. All of our team carried bottled water in our day packs. My dry thirst was aggressive, and  it didn’t take long to burn through the 2 litres of water I had. I thought to myself how water was such a precious resource here, and how others struggled to obtain it.

The villagers have a concrete tank constructed by the Government where they are required to pump water from the nearby dam. There is an acute electricity problem in this area. The power is sometimes down for more than 2 or 3 days at a time. No power, no water.

This was the only means of water supply for the entire village. Over 623 people live here including 128 children.  The motor is often broken down and can take over a month to fix.

Villagers used to have to travel by foot and sometimes by a bullock-cart up to 1 kilometre twice in a day to fetch water from the dam or nearby villages. Over half the children were required to gather
the water for the families as well. Hence the great need for a reliable water source. TEAR Fund and EFICOR constructed this well we visited.  It took approximately 8 men 40 days to build, and the well has radically changed the villagers lives. Time consumed in fetching water has been reduced, giving them more time to look after the family and help their spouses in the fields preparing and harvesting crops like Dhal and Chick peas.

“Water in your back pocket…” If you donate an iPod to “Trade your iPod for life!”  It has the ability quite simply to set people and communities free. Water is an essential to life, give an iPod and give life. Here’s an example of how many people the average new iPod would provide water for in the Mazarkapadi village.

iPod Nano:  33 people*

iPod Touch: 50 people*

iPod Classic: 62 people*

iPhone 32Gb: 195 people*

*Figures are based on an average; each village can vary in population. Wells are priced between $4000 – $5000 depending on accessibility, drilling depth and soil type. iPods have been used in this calculator at current prices.

It’s a radical concept, donating your iPod to be sold for water! So far the campaign has raised $11,250 towards the wells in Orissa, India with a target of $20,000. This will completely pay for the project in Orissa with nearly two thousand people benefiting from clean drinking water.

Please consider being radical and giving up a single luxury in order to transform and restore the lives of many.

For more info please email: tradeyouripodforlife@gmail.com

Check out:

http://tradeipodforlife.wordpress.com/

www.ipod4life.co.nz