ServeNow has begun distributing water in a few slum communities. (Click here to watch a video: Clean Water). One of those slums is inhabited by families of rag pickers (collecting and selling rags) and manual scavengers (removal of human excreta). These families live in temporary structures with no access to proper hygiene, sanitation or clean drinking water. Every summer when clean drinking water is scarce, the slum dwellers fall prey to various water borne diseases. With the only source of water for this community of more than 50 families being a dried up tube well, the women and sometimes the children of the community are forced to walk more than two miles to fetch water which is not properly treated for drinking. For these families, clean drinking water at their doorstep was a Godsend! ServeNow hopes to continue providing water to this community for the next two months when the summer heat is at its peak.
Meena, a 24 year old married woman, who stays in slums, shares that she lives in a joint family of 9 members. She and her husband work as a garbage collectors. Sometimes they work as daily laborers. Every day they work very hard to meet expenses, Meena shares “I am very happy for the ServeNow water program. We used to have a water problem, we are used drinking dirty water, now we are able to get clean drinking water.”
Also, in the heart of the metropolitan city of Hyderabad, is a slum where more than 100 migrated laborers reside with their families. Without even proper basic facilities to live in, this community survives in temporary shelters mostly made of plastic sheets. With no proper sanitation or water supply, clean drinking water is very difficult to come by. The pastor in this area, who ministers in this slum, requested ServeNow to provide clean drinking for these families for whom clean drinking water at their doorstep in the hot summers was an unaffordable luxury.
***To help provide clean water to these slum communities and others click here: Water for Life.
