From Child Labour to College: Support Her Future

Mrs Asha is 41, and lives in Nannaj Dumala, in a small house with her mother, daughter and son.

Her husband died 4 years ago due to AIDS. Since then Asha has had to bear the responsibility of looking after and educating her two children, as well as caring for her aging mother. She has very little money, supporting the whole family on an income of Rs 2,000 a month.

Before the project

Not having a toilet, and like many other poor families in the are, Mrs Asha, her children and her mother defecated openly in the village. For the 3 women of the family, this would mean waiting until dark or early morning. This caused stomach problems for the women, as well as exposing them to water-bourne diseases where people were openly deficating. It also affected the self-esteem of Mrs Asha, and especially her daughter. They were not aware of basic health and hygiene practice.

The intervention

NISD began working in this village, and Mrs Asha started to get involved int he activities they were running. Through this, she came to learn much more about basic health and sanitation practices, and the risks to both themselves and others that the practice of open defication led to.

She was inspired to construct a toilet, and asked if NISD could help. The construction was mostly subsidised by NISD who provided the materials, with Mrs Asha contributing the rest from what she could save.

Now

The whole family now use the newly construced toilet and understand the importance of basic hygiene practices. This also means they can go to the toilet when they want, which has saved all kind of health problems and difficulties - especially for Mrs Asha's elderly mother. The money that has been saved on doctors bills and travel can now be used for the children's education.

Thank you for helping Mrs Asha and her family to enjoy a freedom we would all wish to have. This would not have been possible without your help.