Donors Visit Installed Hand Pumps in Kathore

Water is one of the fundamental elements responsible for life on earth; yet it remains out of reach of billions around the globe. It affects every continent and more than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. While considering the province of Sindh in Pakistan, besides being one of the disadvantaged communities when it comes to literacy and morbidity rate in addition, it happens to be one of the places where water is chronically short besides being dirty and contaminated. Women of these remote areas travel 5-6 km far from their village to fetch water. However, water wells are set-up 250 ft deep from which both animals and humans drink water.

HOPE- an NGO in Pakistan has been helping the needy to obtain clean drinking water under the leadership of Dr Mubina Agboatwalla- child specialist in Karachi. With the help of charitable donors Mr. and Mrs. Azizuddin, their son Mr. Aymen Azizuddin, deep soil handpumps have been installed in a village named Abdul Rehman Chuto Goth (Kathor). Another handpump has been installed in village Murad Ali Gabol Goth (Kathor) with the generous contribution from Mr. and Mrs. Mazhar Sharif.

On 29th November 2016, both charitable donor families visited both villages to oversee the installed handpumps and observe the impact it has made on the residents’ lives. Both villages are located in Kathor, about 30 kilometers from Karachi Toll Plaza, with each village being home to 250 families and a total population of over 800 people. These villages have been previously completely devoid of water and barely able to keep themselves in existence. Women carry water on their heads in laden cans, pitchers and even drums full of water, from prolonged distances.

The visiting donors and their families were overjoyed to see the installed handpumps being extremely beneficial to the village community. They talked with the locals who highlighted how the handpump had saved them from migrating to areas with better water accessibility and reduced the workload on them to fetch water from distant places. Many residents hailed the handpumps to be a great blessing for them. The visitors were showered with hospitality by the locals and the visitors distributed sweets among the residents as a token of appreciation.

HOPE - a health NGO in Pakistan gains greater dedication and motivation as we witness the change each hand pump has brings in the lives of so many people in these rural areas.