One of the many goals for HYSAWA is to take safe water points & hygiene messages to the extremely poor and socially minor group. A case such as the Rishipara in Alipur, Satkhira couldn’t be more fitting.
Social Acceptance.JPGRishipara is under Alipur union in ward no.2. The community consists of at least 30 families, each with at least 5 family members… if not more. This is a much neglected community. In a mix of low-income Hindu & Muslim members, the people of this community live on roadside beside Kaliganj-Satkhira high road. The land is not even theirs, however, they can account for at least 4 generations that have been living on the occupied lands. Most of men in this community work in fields for some petty cash, some are cobblers, some sweepers and some just smoke all day, complaining about having no job to do. The women would look after the children, cook & look after the wild boars that some families breed. For as long as anyone can remember in Rishipara, they have always lived poorly, both in terms of finance & hygiene.
When HYSAWA began working in this community, it was very difficult for the COs to conduct their sessions; the place was always unclean, smelled of wild boar & their leavings as well as of open defecation. Most of the people are uneducated and prejudiced, so getting them to listen and comply was issue. Despite these drawbacks, the CO kept doing her work. Gradually, when the people began warming up to the CO, one by one, they began talking about their problems. The biggest problem for them was the water point. There is a deep tube well about half-a-kilo from them, but it was socially inaccessible to them. More often than none, people would smirk at them; make them wait till until everyone was done. Sometimes, they even had come away without water, simply because the people around told them to. There was one evening in particular when they had gone to fetch water and people from the nearby mosque threw their pots away. Despite all these humiliation, the people of Rishipara continued going to the mosque’s tube well, because they had no other option. A safe water point here, was mandatory.
It’s been almost five months since a tube well was given here by HYSAWA. The community is extremely thankful. Not only that, they have learned to keep their surroundings clean & tidy. They are enjoying the benefits of having their own tube well, a healthier lifestyle and above all, a life without social objection. These days, people from other surrounding areas also some here to take water, passersby stop here for a drink of safe water. Although a deep tube well and hygienic lifestyle cannot bring them jobs, however, it has certainly given them a slice of respect in the society.
Case study collected by Nusrat Daud Pritha, Consultant, Documentation Officer, HYSAWA, November 2014