The remote village of Haji Bhachudiwandh does not have access to the resources to meet its members’ basic needs. Currently, the village faces its greatest challenges as a result of having an inadequate water supply and no electricity.

Currently, the community's drinking water is collected from monsoon rains and government water tankard vehicles that visit the village once a week. The lack of water for washing and cleaning has created serious health and hygiene issues among the village’s families and resulted in their children being barred from attending the local school. The absence of electricity further compounds these issues. Adults’ work hours are restricted to the hours when sufficient sunlight is available and the entire community is left vulnerable to wild animals and harmful insects.

This project will ensure that Haji Bhachudiwanh is equipped with the resources to address both of these critical needs. It will provide the village’s families with three 10,000 L water tanks that will allow them to capture and store enough clean water to benefit the entire village. In addition, this project will also ensure that the community is protected from the dangers of the dark by supplying it with three solar lights.

Haji Bhachudiwandh is a small, remote village in the Kutch desert of Gujarat, India. Its residents primarily rely on animal husbandry and agriculture to earn an income. In the absence of agricultural work, women embroider and make bedspreads to sell at the market in the next town. The majority of the village's families migrated from neighboring communities of nomadic goat and cattle herders and settled in Haji Bhachudiwandh over the past 5 years.

All of the community's families live below the poverty line on approximately $1 a day. Residents live with 5 to 8 members of their immediate family in temporary huts with bundled wood sticks for walls and thatched roofs. However, Haji Bhachudiwandh's families have recently pooled their savings to construct permanent homes of stone and brick; they expect to complete and move into their new homes by the winter of 2009.

There is no plumbing, electricity, or access to public works in Haji Bhachudiwandh. Without access to critical resources, especially water and electricity, the village faces serious health and safety issues as families are forced to brave the harsh conditions of the region’s desert.

Community member details not available yet.

Direct Impact of Your Project

• Provides a sustainable light source to all 35 families in the village
• Allows residents to pursue activities before sunrise and after sunset
• Protects families from desert animals and harmful insects such as snakes and scorpions that afflict homes in the Haji Bhachudiwandh
• Ensures the entire village has access to clean, drinking water
• Enables the community to easily and efficiently store and distribute 30,000 liters of water

Extended Impact on Your Partner Community

• Allows families to increase the number of hours during which they can be productive
• Enables women to spend newly freed time investing in opportunities to increase their income such as completing agricultural work, embroidery, and weaving
• Improves health and hygiene throughout the village
• Ensures the children of Haji Bachudiwandh live in conditions that will improve the likelihood of their attending school