One pipe means less work for four women | Milaap
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One pipe makes less work for four women

Written by Shalini Publish date 20-Jul-2016
Sagunthala by the storage tanks near her new water connection
Sagunthala by the storage tanks near her new water connection

I was welcomed to Sagunthala’s home in Karalavali by the sound of happily bleating goats. It was a sunny day and I had the pleasure of meeting Sagunthala’s youngest daughter as well, who is 16 years old. We are both the youngest of three girls, and we shared smiles chatting over this fact. But her life has been quite different than mine, one small difference being the chore she was expected to do everyday – carry pots of water from the public tap to her home. She and her sisters always had to help their mother with this daily task until Sagunthala took out a loan from GUARDIAN, Milaap’s field partner, to build their own piped water connection. Borrowing money from a friend in addition to her loan, Sagunthala constructed a water connection and storage pump. Although water is not always available through her piped connection, she has two storage containers that she fills when it is. From there, she and her family have water whenever they need it, right nearby. Sagunthala spends her days doing housework, caring for her daughters, and running a small flower shop in her village. When she learned she could get a loan to build a water connection she was excited; “I wanted better access to water and just needed the initial cash.” Her and her daughters are very happy that their daily routines are a little bit easier now.

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