TravelBlog » India2007

India2007 - Sarah Hancox

I am lucky enough to be representing Anglian Water on the supporters' trip to India for the charity WaterAid. I'll be going for 2 weeks (24 Feb to 9 Mar) to see for myself how the charity works to give clean water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people.

Come back to this blog site to read more about the places and people I visit, and see some pictures.

In India, 2 out of 3 people do not have access to any sort of toilet.
Across the world, 5000 children die every day from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, caused by dirty water and lack of sanitation.
WaterAid projects cost on average just £15 per head.
For more information or to donate see www.wateraid.org

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Joined on: February 5th 2007
Last Login: November 11th 2007

Blog Entries: 16
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By India2007
March 9th 2007

Home again

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Heathrow Airport

Home sweet home. We are so lucky here, that we are able to take for granted the supply of safe drinking water at the twist of a tap, and the privacy and hygiene of home flush-toilets. Let's be thankful for these facilities and spare a thought for those 1 billion people who have no safe drinking water and over 2.5 billion with no toilets, some of whom I have met on this trip. If you want to help, it costs WaterAid just £15 per head to provide a lasting solution for water, sanitation and hygeine. Please visit WaterAid's website to find [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 7th 2007

Back to being a tourist

Asia » India » National Capital Territory » New Delhi

The Red Fort

Back in Delhi we are reunited with the 'West' team who have their own set of incredible experiences and stories to tell. The morning is spent reviewing the visit, comparing thoughts and reflections, sharing feedback. I now feel like the trip itself is over. I have seen what I came here to see, a small sample of life in one of the poorest parts of India, and now I want to go home. It's been physically tiring and emotionally draining, a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Instead, there is another day and a half of shopping and sight-seeing before Friday's flight [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 6th 2007

The voices of the future here

Asia » India » Orissa » Bhubaneswar

The 'minister for water' speaks

This morning is our last project visit before returning to Delhi. It is spent at a school in Bhubanaswar set up by a charitable organisation for slum children. Here WaterAid and partners have helped secure water supplies by investing in a roof rain water harvesting system. This collects rain water from the school roof during the rainy season, filters it and stores it in large containers, enough for a few months' supply. In future they hope to increase storage capacity but this would require more complex solutions to ensure the water could be kept clean for longer. Children here have been [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 5th 2007

Efforts to improve sanitation in the slums

Asia » India » Orissa » Cuttack

Community Sanitation block

Later in the morning we visit another slum where WaterAid have been able to intervene and build a community sanitation block. Obviously in these settings there simply isn't the space to build household latrines, so different solutions are required. The sanitation block, with ladies' and gents' latrines, and showers, and a child-friendly latrine area too, is run by local people, and there is a small charge of 50 paise (half a rupee - less than 1p) for using the toilets, which pays for their cleaning and maintenance. Such a system also ensures that communities take ownership of the facilities an [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 5th 2007

The Urban Poor in the Slums of Cuttack

Asia » India » Orissa » Cuttack

Kulamani at his home

The merriment of yesterday could not have been more greatly contrasted than with today's visit. Nothing I have seen last week could have prepared me for the dire situation that thousands of people face in the slums of Cuttack city, living in extreme poverty. Many of these slums have been here for decades, expanding over time. Often they are on Government-owned land which is vulnerable to reclamation for growing industrial uses. Unfortunately, the government simultaneously represent many conflicting interests, not least the need to grow this area economically by encouraging the development of i [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 4th 2007

Happy Holi!

Asia » India » Orissa » Bhubaneswar

Sarah in Holi colours!

Happy Holi! This morning we are advised to remain in the hotel, as the Hindu festival of Holi (the festival of colours) can get a bit chaotic! Later on though we join in the celebrations, across town at a childrens' home run by the amazing Ruchika social service organisation, which provides schooling for street children from the slums. Each one of us is covered from head to toe in brightly coloured powders, and we dance to lively music in the open air. More and more colours keep coming, being thrown into the air, and smeared on our faces, in our hair, [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 3rd 2007

Sustainable Development

Asia » India » Orissa

Members of the Village Water and Sanitation Committee

This is the last of the rural village project visits, as next week we'll be visiting slums. The village we visit today has recently begun work with WaterAid. Nick, Liz, Christina and I begin by meeting with members of the Village Water and Sanitation Committee to discuss how they locally address water and sanitation issues here. Each village in the area has an elected representative. The committee of eleven is deliberately composed of six women and five men, to ensure that women always remain involved and have an active voice - something that has not happened in the past. Meanwhile, some [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 2nd 2007

Hygiene education at rural Indian village schools

Asia » India » Orissa

Children hand washing

Today we spend the day focusing on hygiene education, visiting two schools in the Dhenkanal area. The children, approximately of primary school age, greet us with a Wel Come' chant, in two long lines, boys on the left and girls on the right, in their sky blue shirts and dresses. We observe the assembly which has a special performance of a water and sanitation song, and much cheer. In pairs we then spend the morning with classes. Mike and I visit class 6, who are on average around 10 years of age. They are rather shy at first but soon join [View Full Entry]

By India2007
March 1st 2007

Constructing new toilets

Asia » India » Orissa

Sarah with a half-built toilet
The boy in the yellow shirt is Alekha, aged 10, who suffers from polio.

This morning the WaterAid supporters group head out to another village in the same area as yesterday, where WaterAid has recently started work, and we have come to help out with the construction of new latrines. I get stuck in at the Nayak family, where Bhagirathi, aged 34, lives with his wife Basanti and two young boys aged 10 and 7. I help collect water from the handpump and use it to mix cement. Two round pits have been dug, about 3 ft deep and the same diameter, each of which will last 5 to 10 years. The toilet building will [View Full Entry]

By India2007
February 28th 2007

The difference WaterAid makes

Asia » India » Orissa

Jemamani with her new latrine

Today we set off to Bhadrak where we will stop for the night. We spend the day in a village where WaterAid has intervened, and now all 82 households have toilets and clean water. As we arrive the crowds chant "Well Come Well Come!" and we are all handed flowers and coconuts with straws. Welcoming speeches are made. The contrast to yesterday is vast. This village has been declared 'Open Defecation Free' and since then no-one has got ill from diarrhoea. The difference in wealth can be measured by the reduction in medical fees and lost labour from sickness. The clothes [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » India2007

India2007 | Sarah Hancox | Travel Blog

India2007 - Sarah Hancox

Blogs & Travel Journals

Home again

Back to being a tourist

The voices of the future here

Efforts to improve sanitation in the slums

The Urban Poor in the Slums of Cuttack

Happy Holi!

Sustainable Development

Hygiene education at rural Indian village schools

Constructing new toilets

The difference WaterAid makes