Water Project At The Merasi School ~ Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India
Water is a scarce and highly valued commodity in the Thar Desert, and that is also true of Jaisalmer, the principal city of this desert. The Merasi School has never had its own drinking water and, in close collaboration with FAR and LKSS, WaterBridge Outreach engaged in installing a sizeable water tank, with water purifier, to remedy this need. The thought is to go further at a later date and install a rain catchment system since the rain tends to comes down heavily on the relatively few days that it does rain. In addition, discussion is ongoing about possible sanitation needs and installing a W.C. or two.
The children of the Merasi School are considered untouchables and as such are denied access to most education and services. To be able to have access to clean, drinking water is a human right yet sadly there was little government help to ensure that students at this school received just that. The photos in the carousel show the construction of the project and the "water celebration party" that was held once construction was 100% complete.
In addition to the water project WaterBridge Outreach has been providing books for the Merasi School's library. In January 2015, WBO friends and supporters Jenny Li and Angelo Lamola, visited the Merasi School on behalf of WBO and delivered 245 books and dvds. You can learn more about this trip in our feature interview with Jenny and Angelo by clicking here and do read our feature article A Library Grows in the Desert in which FAR Executive Director Karen Lukas offers a moving testimonial to what the book donations mean for the Merasi School in the Great Thar Desert.
By focusing on book and water projects together, WaterBridge Outreach continues to promote literacy and encourage children to become lifelong readers while trying to alleviate environmental challenges: hence our banner, “Books + Water- Nourishing the Mind and Body”.
Photo Credits: Jules Feeney, Sarwar Khan, the Merasi youth, and Karen Lukas