SRIA Borrowers Prompt Community Water Project
Prosperity Rings takes pride in the fact that our borrowers learn to become active leaders in their communities and take charge of making improvements happen that no one else has had the courage and confidence to launch.
SRIA responded to the appeal of Prosperity Rings’ borrowers of Muthampattiyarkottam Village to provide a source of drinking water for its residents. SRIA planned this project proposal together with the villagers and micro-credit women members, in order to submit it to Prosperity Rings, who might be able to mobilize required financial assistance from Bellevue Rotary Club. The unique feature of this project is that the beneficiaries will not only contribute free labor toward the soil excavation work but — after a recent meeting with the beneficiaries and the community leaders — each family also came forward to contribute Rs 1000 (approximately $21, more than a week’s pay for most) towards implementation of the project.
Muthampattiyarkottam Village in situated in a dry, backward region of Trichy District. There are 25 households with 140 people living in this village — 78 men, 64 women, 21 young children, and 8 widows. The main occupation of the men is construction. Some of the women also work as construction laborers; some work as agricultural laborers. Most of the houses are made of thatch and mud walls. None of the houses have a toilet. Much worse, there is no drinking water facility. The Government’s three bore wells are no longer yielding water. The village people must spend much time collecting water from the neighboring village, Valvanthi, which is 800 meters away. The elderly people must depend on others for their water.
The only way out seemed to be to construct an overhead water storage tank with ten thousand liter capacity. A host of abstracts and estimates of materials, labor, and budget have been drawn up by SRIA, a local engineer, and a licensed surveyor. The village youth and local leaders will take responsibility for the maintenance of the overhead tank. The funds for executing the water project will be monitored by a local village committee, including representatives of SRIA and the Rotary Club of Thuraiyur Golden City.
The water project will provide the villagers with enough potable water during all seasons. The health, environmental and economic status of the people will be improved. With the help and guidance of the Rotary club of Thuraiyur Golden City, Prosperity Rings, and the Bellevue Rotary Club, SRIA believes in the successful completion of the project. The borrowers say, “First we want to tackle the drinking water problem, then we will plan for a toilet facility.”
