What a Difference Clean Water Makes
6 December 2002
What a difference clean water has made to the lives of these women whose job it is to fetch water for the family's needs.
Imagine living in a village in Pakistan and getting your water from a stagnant rainwater pond, or from a muddy irrigation and drainage canal contaminated with pesticides, water that you and your family use for drinking, bathing, and washing clothes.
This situation is typical in villages in rural Punjab, a densely populated province with a population of 84 million.
What a difference clean water has made to the lives of these people, especially the women and children, whose job it is to fetch water for the family's needs.
As the implementation officer for the Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, I had the privilege to meet beneficiaries in more than 200 villages, and see the impact on their lives. Recently I visited villages near Bahawalpur, a cotton growing region in southern Punjab.
"We used to get our water from a pond also used by animals."
- Sughran Bibi,
mother of 5
The story of Sughran Bibi, mother of five children, is typical: "We used to get our water from a pond also used by animals", she told me. "It was so dirty. Then they dug a well, but we had to line up all day under the sun, to get a little water.
"The water wasn't good.
"Many children got sick with diarrhea and there was cholera in the rainy season. We had no money to go to the doctor. Life was so bad some families left the village.
"Now life is so much better. I have time for sewing and embroidery. I make clothes that I sell. We don't have to skip meals anymore."
Clean water piped to their homes has meant better health for villagers, especially the children. Outbreaks of water-related diseases have been reduced dramatically. And other benefits have flowed.
Without the heavy time-consuming burden of fetching water, women from poor families can now devote more time to livelihood activities to increase family income.
Women are also able do more farm work. And some have planted home vegetable gardens to improve their family's diet. Altogether, the project has benefited about 800,000 people in poor rural communities, where household income is only $60 a month.
Sughran Bibi's children used to spend much of the day helping fetch water. Now they are going to school. The provision of clean water has led to a big increase in school enrollment, especially for girls. Farzina is a college student active in a village water committee. "Girls wanted to go to school but there was no time because they spent five to six hour a day fetching water. Mothers would say to their children - first you must fetch the water then you can study," Farzina said.
Since the scheme was completed two years ago, enrollment of girls in the elementary school has gone up from 100 to 150.
Boy's enrollment in elementary school has increased as well. The problem now is the influx of new students has caused a shortage of teachers and classroom space in some schools.
Villagers, especially children, now enjoy clean drinking water—and better health
The project supplies piped water to households from tube wells. Groundwater is tested for quantity and quality to find the best location for the tube well, which may be several kilometers from the village.
Another very important project component provides paving of village streets with bricks, and construction of drains as well.
During a dialogue with a community-based organization for women, chairperson Sadia Yasmeen noted: "Before, women and children had such a hard time walking in our village because the streets were so muddy and dirty. We would often slip and fall. But now that our streets have been paved, and drains put in, it's easy to get around and the village is so much cleaner."
On several occasions during handing-over ceremonies of completed schemes, I was welcomed by villagers with tears of happiness. "Our dreams have come true", villagers said. For my part, and for the project staff, we are proud that this project has had a direct impact on reducing poverty, enhancing gender development, and improving the environment in rural Punjab.
Visit our Water site.
Learn more about ADB's activities in Pakistan.
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