Providing financial medical and community aid to alleviate hardship and distress among Gurkha ex-servicemen of the British Crown
Gilung Village
The closest water source to Gilung village was a spring pond an hours' walk away. In the dry summer months, villages would need to queue from 4am in the morning to ensure they got the water they needed. During the monsoon months, water borne diseases such as dysentery spread rapidly through the village.
Approval was granted for the construction of a GWT water scheme. The initial preparation phase involved the input of the entire community who drew simple village maps to show project engineers the ideal location for latrines and water points. The consultation phase also addressed hygiene issues in the village and how improvements could be made. Each home was encouraged to build their own latrine.
GWT project engineers were presented with their toughest challenge yet: laying a record 31.7 kilometers of pipe from the water source to the village across terrain with a dramatic 'U' shaped profile. With a vertical difference of 307m, special piping and heavy duty valves needed to be used to withstand the enormous pressure. That was not all. Due to the distances involved, the construction team had to camp in sandfly and leech infested countryside for six weeks whilst the laying pipe infrastructure.
Before the pipes were connected to the water source, measures needed to preserve the cleanliness of water by taking out debris and pollutants.
The success of the Trust's water projects is due to the high level of engagement with beneficiary villages and the shared ownership of the initiative. The village is obliged to provide gangs of labourers to help with the project and designate wardens for the ongoing maintenance and up keep of the schemes.
Four months after the start of the project, the water points were turned on. More than 400 households or 2353 people now benefit from fresh, clean water running right to their door steps. Every house now has a latrine and outdoor defecation has been eliminated. Villages report that seasonal diarrhea and dysentery have been virtually eliminated.
