Bringing Clean Water to Communities

At Nkuku we are fortunate enough to work with artisans throughout the world but in particular we have developed a strong link to India. Our passion for this incredible country and the people that live there helped us form a natural interest and affiliation with the charity FRANK Water. Based in the south west of England this inspiring charity is dedicated to funding and supporting clean water projects all over India.

We are currently involved in a project to install a new borewell and pump to a small community in India. This will provide fresh drinking water and improve the living standards of people like Yetti below.

Yetti’s Story
Yetti Sammakka is 54 years old. Since her husband died five years ago, she lives alone in a small village of around 80 families. She goes out to work every day and earns a small daily wage of around £2 per day – just enough to provide enough food and basics for herself and her children.
Yetti’s village had no safe water supply so Yetti would walk 500m to fetch water from an open well. The well was on farmland and in the rainy season, Yetti would walk through muddy, knee deep water to get there. The well was left open to the elements and there was often debris floating on the surface as well as frogs, snakes and other creatures in the water. It would take Yetti around 2 hours a day to collect enough water for her family. She hated it – and would often go without water herself to avoid going back to the well for more.

FRANK Water has been working with Bala Vikasa (an NGO based in Telangana) since 2010. Bala Vikasa concentrate much of their work in rural, tribal communities where people live without land rights and government support. With support from FRANK Water, Bala Vikasa identified a safe supply of drinking water and installed a borewell and motorized pump to pipe water from the source to a big tank in the village.

Today, Yetti has safe clean drinking water at her doorstep and can drink whenever she feels thirsty. She has more free time which she uses to collect wood for fuel that she sells at her local market to supplement her income. For Yetti and her family, life is easier and their health is improved. “Our home is much cleaner and we can wash our hands before cooking and eating. Now that we have safe water, we want to get toilets. We asked the local government for funding. Safe water is just the start.”

To find out more about FRANK water and their work please visit their website www.frankwater.com.