Notebooks & Sanitation for India
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PART ONE: Soilets
When I volunteered in India last summer, I had the opportunity to share my knowledge with the people of Telengana, Hyderabad area. I came home with a new appreciation for all the privalges we have here. I couldn't use a restroom without thinking about all my friends in CPI, & BJR Nagar colony(interpret slum) who had the fields and the streets as their facilities. What made me breakdown and cry was the fact that often when a girl goes to the fields men come and will take advantage of her.
The elderly have a prediciment as well, imagine your grandma or grandpa traveling over uneven dirt ground with ruts, rocks and weeds. It may be doable in the day, but what about before the sun rises or after it sets and darkness sets in?
FACTS & How it works:
Andrah Pradesh has the highest rates in human trafficking, rape, & child labor
Snake attacks are also frequent in those fields and in the forests where they go...
For every 1 soilet, 1 family has use of it.
A soilet enables people to use the bathroom near their home, which is both convenient and safe
The way it works is that the poop mixes in with the dirt to create a fertilizer that the people can either use in their square foot gardens, or they can sell it, (I've seen both). So it's also eco friendly.
Working with SAPID-HEAL, a NGO in Hyderbad, we have seen the success and improvement from these soilets. At $200-$500 per soilet this is a very doable project. I am hoping to provide soilets to 10 families who have many girls.
PART TWO: Notebooks & Education
What is the value of paper? As an American it is always available and usually at a fairly inexpensive cost. In India the first day we were there, we had notebooks we were ripping paper from for the kids, the way they took care and found delight in this floored me. As we were cleaning up from the day, so many of the children asked if they could have a notebook. Something to write their name on. Education is a precious thing and the means of changing the world. I want to give them the opportunity for change.
Boys taken in from the street by a man trying to provide a better life for the boys. They are all avid Cricket players and rambunctious boys.
Personal Experiences & Stories:
Girls & Boys from CPI and surrounding colonies learning how to be creative.
Dancing with girls from Bridge Camp, a place where they are given a second chance at school and life. All the girls had fallen out of school due to one circumstance or another, including from human trafficking & child labor.
I was welcomed so thouroughly, I felt I was given much more then I gave in return and when the opportunity came up to return to Hyderabad India for 10 days, jumped at the chance to go and to give in return.
If ever I was lost, I was taken in and cared for. If ever I shared they thanked me profusely, and when I in turn tried to thank them for a cup of soda or a chair, they would respond with 'don't tell us thank you, you have come to give us a chance and make us better'
Why:
I came across this quote...
"Sometimes I want to ask God why He allows
Famine
Poverty
and Injustice
in the world, when He could do something about it,
But I'm afraid He will ask me the same question."
If you want to read more:
http://dreammakercomertrue.blogspot.com
The first 15 posts relate to my experience in India
When I volunteered in India last summer, I had the opportunity to share my knowledge with the people of Telengana, Hyderabad area. I came home with a new appreciation for all the privalges we have here. I couldn't use a restroom without thinking about all my friends in CPI, & BJR Nagar colony(interpret slum) who had the fields and the streets as their facilities. What made me breakdown and cry was the fact that often when a girl goes to the fields men come and will take advantage of her.
The elderly have a prediciment as well, imagine your grandma or grandpa traveling over uneven dirt ground with ruts, rocks and weeds. It may be doable in the day, but what about before the sun rises or after it sets and darkness sets in?
FACTS & How it works:
Andrah Pradesh has the highest rates in human trafficking, rape, & child labor
Snake attacks are also frequent in those fields and in the forests where they go...
For every 1 soilet, 1 family has use of it.
A soilet enables people to use the bathroom near their home, which is both convenient and safe
The way it works is that the poop mixes in with the dirt to create a fertilizer that the people can either use in their square foot gardens, or they can sell it, (I've seen both). So it's also eco friendly.
Working with SAPID-HEAL, a NGO in Hyderbad, we have seen the success and improvement from these soilets. At $200-$500 per soilet this is a very doable project. I am hoping to provide soilets to 10 families who have many girls.
PART TWO: Notebooks & Education
What is the value of paper? As an American it is always available and usually at a fairly inexpensive cost. In India the first day we were there, we had notebooks we were ripping paper from for the kids, the way they took care and found delight in this floored me. As we were cleaning up from the day, so many of the children asked if they could have a notebook. Something to write their name on. Education is a precious thing and the means of changing the world. I want to give them the opportunity for change.
Boys taken in from the street by a man trying to provide a better life for the boys. They are all avid Cricket players and rambunctious boys.
Personal Experiences & Stories:
Girls & Boys from CPI and surrounding colonies learning how to be creative.
Dancing with girls from Bridge Camp, a place where they are given a second chance at school and life. All the girls had fallen out of school due to one circumstance or another, including from human trafficking & child labor.
I was welcomed so thouroughly, I felt I was given much more then I gave in return and when the opportunity came up to return to Hyderabad India for 10 days, jumped at the chance to go and to give in return.
If ever I was lost, I was taken in and cared for. If ever I shared they thanked me profusely, and when I in turn tried to thank them for a cup of soda or a chair, they would respond with 'don't tell us thank you, you have come to give us a chance and make us better'
Why:
I came across this quote...
"Sometimes I want to ask God why He allows
Famine
Poverty
and Injustice
in the world, when He could do something about it,
But I'm afraid He will ask me the same question."
If you want to read more:
http://dreammakercomertrue.blogspot.com
The first 15 posts relate to my experience in India
Organizer
Ashley Wheeler
Organizer
Alpine, UT
