Clean Drinking Water … A Basic Right of Every Human Being

Balochistan suffered severely from a drought for over seven years. The area was already least developed and this catastrophe added more to the miseries of the local people. Access to water was difficult with the drought it became extremely tough. Water level gone very low the little amount of water what the local people could get was all muddy. Agriculture completely destroyed as there was no water for irrigation purposes and they lost their livestock. People were forced by the disaster to flee their ancestral lands and moved to another areas.

Bibi Naz (60years of age) from Killi Abdul Samad Totazai in Kharan lived all her life full of miseries but finally difficult time was over for her when water scheme and other interventions were implemented in her village by Islamic Relief.

She said “there was literally no water here, what we could get after enormous efforts was muddy and dirty water. We did not have enough food for us and for our children, no electricity and no schools. We were living in darkness, did not have any idea of how to get out of all this. We were already living hard life and with the loss of our livelihood due to the drought we had no idea if we were going to survive. Most of us were dependent on livestock and agriculture related activities and because of shortage of water we lost all of it and by losing it our life became miserable. There was no hope for survival.

“But the day when they [Islamic Relief] approached our community we saw a glimmer of hope. Islamic Relief started educating us how we could help ourselves. We came to know how much potential is there by working together as we formed a community organisation with their [Islamic Relief] help. By giving few Rupees (Cents) each month we have saved collectively thousands. This money is available for anyone within the community members to help them during emergency or for the repair of the water scheme in our village.

“By providing us water pump access to clean drinking water was made so easy for the women. Islamic Relief gave us the most valuable and precious gift. Before the water pump was installed women would walk for long distances to fetch water but now we have clean drinking water at our door step. The water pump is a blessing for us and as much as we appreciate it is less.

“They [Islamic Relief] implemented a number of other interventions in our area such as; distribution of livestock, irrigation system, distribution of seeds and fodder and organized free health camps. With these interventions there is a visible change within our community as mothers don’t have to walk for miles to fetch dirty polluted water to drink. Our socio economic condition has improved slightly and we will make more improvement by working together.

“Due to the medical treatment we received through free health camps, number of diseases have reduced. We also have most of the practices adopted that we learnt through Health & Hygiene sessions organized in our village.

“Water is the answer to most of our miseries and now that this problem has been solved by having easy access to clean drinking water we have now become a healthy community that is moving towards a brighter future
“We are grateful to Islamic Relief for their support in bringing happiness and comfort in our lives.”