Families in the Chorghee Village didn't have their own water supply. Instead, villagers were forced to walk past busy train tracks in order to access water.

CHORGHEE VILLAGE, India – It's any parent's worst nightmare.

For Prahaladh and his wife, the nightmare of losing their child became a reality when they found out their youngest son, Manoj, had been killed in an accident.

"Like any other day Manoj went to get water from the agricultural water tank, but that day he did not return," his father said. "We were worried."

The family lives in a small town that didn't have its own water supply. Instead, villagers were forced to walk past busy train tracks in order to access water.

Today, however, it's a different story thanks to OB India and a new water well. But life wasn't always as easy.

While Prahaladh and his wife worked as agriculture labors, their two children attended a government school for half the day. When the boys returned home from school, they would spend the afternoon playing and waiting until the power was on so they could access the water.

The duo would then walk several miles to the water tank and haul the buckets back home.

"This was a way to give their parents some relief after a long day's work," said Shirley Joyce, a worker with OB India.

OB India drilled a well that gave the entire community access to clean drinking water without having to go near the railroad tracks.

The area where the water tanks were located is accident-prone due to the constant schedule of the trains passing. Every 10 minutes a train speeds by.

"Carrying the water pot and having to watch for trains passing on the left and right would have been difficult for any person," Prahaladh said. "This cost many lives."

News spread in the small town that a 12-year-old boy had been killed."The closer we went the faster our hearts pounded," Prahaladh said. "We both broke when we saw our little boy lying dead on the tracks and the damaged water pot lying by his side."

Hearing the plight of this family and many more that lived in the village, OB India drilled a well that gave the entire community access to clean drinking water without having to go near the railroad tracks.  

"I used to fetch water from the water tank in the evenings some times in the night after coming back from my work," Prahaladh said. "Nobody has to do that. Now I need not fear for anything, because we have a pump right in the center of the village."

"This relieved us from fetching water and from the snare of the death," he added.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Help break the cycle of suffering by giving toward Operation Blessing's water wells and cisterns program. A gift of $1,000 can drill a well for villages and supply families with safe, clean drinking water.

 

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