Who could have imagined that one single safe water source can mean safety to many girls?
This is a story of 3 sisters whose lifestyle has changed by installing a deep tube-well in their premises. Julekha Khatun (20), Jobaida Akhter (18) & Monoara Akhter (16) are 3 sisters among the 5 children of Goltaz Begum and Mohammad Sharif. They live in a hilly track village named Majher Para under Huwaikong Union of Teknaf. Their father Mohammad Sharif is a day laborer. He has to struggle to make ends meet. That’s why, proper hygiene, sustainable sanitation and safe water point sounds like a luxury to them.
A safe water source has always been a crying but difficult to meet need for this family. They had to walk a long way to collect clean water. As the village is hilly, clean water sources are not much available there. As a result, the female members of the family had to suffer a lot, especially maintaining menstrual hygiene was a big challenge for them.
The eldest sister Julekha Khatun said, “In the past there was a shallow pump near our home. But that was only 80 feet deep and the water of that pump was not safe at all. By using the water, we often got sick.”
She added that, “For the scarcity of water we suffered a lot, especially to maintain menstrual hygiene.”
Jobaida Akhter said, “In the past, we had to go far away from home to collect safe water regularly. We felt unsafe to go so far, especially at night.”
This is where HYSAWA came forward to ensure a safe water source for the families in need at Teknaf.
Jobaida added that, “While attending the courtyard sessions of HYSAWA, we learned that we and our neighbors could get a Tube-well from HYSAWA at nominal price if we have water crisis. Then we requested HYSAWA via the Community Organizer Wafa Akhter to provide us a deep tube-well considering our situation.”
One fine morning, the HYSAWA Teknaf team visited their house on the pick of a hill of Majher para. Considering their poor condition, the HYSAWA team decided to give his family along with 8 other nearby families a deep tube-well.
Within a few months, they got a deep tube-well at their arm’s length.
After getting the safe water point, the sisters’ life has become much easier than before.
The youngest sister Monoara Akhter said, “Now we don’t have to go to neighbor’s house or far water points to fetch safe water. We feel safe now. Thanks to HYSAWA. They provided us with safe water point which is protecting us from critical diseases as well.”
According to the youngest one, the deep tube-well provides them both health and social safety.
Case study collected by Mostafa Mohammad Tahan, Media & Communication Officer, HYSAWA, March 2022.