Village communities in West Sikkim constructed rooftop RWH structures connected to hand pumps through a piping system, adopting Barefoot College's local, low-cost solution to provide drinking water to five remote mountaintop-located schools.
Narrative
Originally, the tanks were to be constructed at the Government schools in the following villages of West Sikkim:
Labdang, Dhoopi, Pokhri, Uttrey and Chonri.
The original project was estimated to affect 700 school children.
Sustainability
Creating and measuring long-term impact
RWH is a maintenance free system and constructed in local material at village level.
Other Issues
Unusual and unexpected issues faced during project execution
A series of village meetings were organized by Barefoot College to include more female teachers and children in the RWH construction process. Through the village meetings people selected members of each schools' committee. Having community approval, the school committee implemented the RWH project activity.
Sites for RWH tanks were selected by members of the school committees. They decided the capacity of the proposed tanks according to the number of school children and rooftop area.
After selection of the site and capacity of the tanks, members of the committees excavated a pit for the RWH structure voluntarily in each school.
The school committees identified an average of 30 local needy, poor people and masons to employ for 60 days in the construction work.
Learnings
Knowledge of project and process for sharing
The women of the village were surprised to have a rainwater for drinking. They are willing to make more tanks in their houses to get rid of fetching daily for a long climbing up-down. They remark nobody knew that this is an amazing water problem solution at our level.
Impact
People Impacted: 1670
School Children Getting Water: 1670
Tashiding Secondary School: 400 children
Gangeyap Lower High School: 200 children
Pelling Residential School: 600 children
Pelling Girls' Hostel Secondary School: 300 children
Jeel Lower Secondary School: 170 children
