Water for Life

Due of the lack of clean drinking water, children are especially vulnerable to water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, worm infections, typhoid, and hepatitis etc. Some of these diseases have long term effects on lives. These diseases and problems are very common in Tharparkar, Sindh.

Water scarcity affects women more because they are responsible to fetch water from long distance for the entire family. Women cannot leave their households even for social functions since most of their time is spent fetching water. They remain unable to entertain friends and relations due to fetching of water from long distances. Sometimes, both the young boys and girls have to postpone their career development activities due to the responsibility of fetching water. Besides being a major work for women, fetching water effects children’s education too during dry seasons. Often children also remain necessary part of the water collection, sometimes stretching into the night hours too. In such event children have to sacrifice daily studies, for which they are reprimanded by their teachers.

The problem is somehow same in all areas of Tharparkar, people have insufficient access to safe water and storages, coupled with lack of adequate hygiene practices, and low access to health services that worsen their lives and increases the risk of disease outbreaks.

Considering the major livelihood that depends on rain water alternate water accessibility is needed to be worked out as a long term solution. Availability of safe drinking water is indeed a gift of life and having an easy access to clean and safe drinking water is an important human right. By providing attention to this neglected issue in Pakistan the least we can do is ensure smooth provision of this most basic public health necessity to the deprived people and to prevent thousands of Pakistani children from dying.

FRDP Pakistan with Support of different donors which includes the Global Giving support the poor communities of Tharparkar and providing them safe drinking water at their doorstep. FRDP so far installed 80 Hand Pumps at the different locations; FRDP also installed 25 water wells and 2 solar pumps at the different locations to provide the clean drinking water. Still we are struggling for the funds to reach more people of the area, as mentioned above the major issue is the water scarcity and women is the responsible for the fetching water from 2 kilometers away from the home.