Manishka’s Walk for Water

Hi! My name is Manishka and I am in fifth grade at Saint Veronica School, Centreville, VA. My grandfather came over a while ago and I heard him telling my dad about several problems people face in rural India including the lack of drinking water. 

India is quickly approaching climate apartheid where only the wealthy can afford basic resources. In some places disaster has already arrived. Example the 4 reservoirs that supply Chennai, India’s sixth largest city, are almost dry. Hundreds of thousands of residents wait in a line every day to fill their pots at government water tankers and critical services like offices and schools are also struggling to get water. People are forced to reuse dirty water to wash their utensils. If they’re lucky, they might get a few bottles of clean water to cook their food.

This may just be the beginning of India’s future. Already 600 million people are facing acute water shortages nationwide and 200,000 die every year from inadequate or unsafe water consumption. Hundreds of young girls are dropping out of school in order to help their moms get water from the tanks. It’s not like we’re waiting for the future in terms of water challenges; we’re already there.

I discussed with my Grandfather if we could do something together to help. I have teamed up with him to run a campaign where we will try to highlight the problem through Asha Jyothi and gather funds. I will then work with my grandfather to install hand pumps in rural areas. At this point I am targeting the installation of 10 hand pumps but based on the support we get, we will try to install as many as possible.

Please support me in my campaign so together we all can make a difference in the lives of those in need.