Access to water and sanitation are recognized by the United Nations as human rights – fundamental to everyone’s health, dignity and prosperity. However, billions of people are still living without safely managed water and sanitation.
Marginalized groups are often overlooked, and sometimes face discrimination, as they try to access the water and sanitation services they need. Governments must take a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to water and sanitation improvements, so that no one gets left behind.
(https://www.unwater.org/.../human-rights-water-and...)
In the middle of August, the SCF network in Mae Hong Son coordinate for helps after a big flood. We, then spent September and Octobergoing to the sites affected from flood. After supporting one school for school toilets, providing learning materials and necessities to three schools, we worked with a school to plan for hill water system.
The project will be implement together in during 5- 8 December, 24. This project is a bit challenge, besides as the project site is some 369 Kms from the SCF office, most of our Thai donors also affected from flood. Luckily, our advisor in Singapore helped raising fund from friends in Singapore and the SCF team raised fund from a few friends to cover the cost of project materials.
The journey to create positive changes is coming soon !
We left the SCF office at 6.30 pm on 3 may, 24 and arrived at Mae Khit village at 5.30 am. on 4 may, 24. After a short nap we started working together with the villagers to cope up with water scarcity at 8.00 am
It was a good time to see the SCF team and Karen at Mae Khit learn and share together, and friendship building up along the way among them. A very good time for self-development for all of us, including me!
Our working together on water system was successful. Six water tanks and water collectors are in places to improve water supply to the village. However, the villageers must have a proper water management so everyone can access to water all year round. .
We belief that the accessibility to adequate water promotes human dignity and led to a better sanitaion !
We left the village at 5 pm on 5 may, 24. All the working together completed. But our journey to create positive impacts is never ending.
After a few online consultaions with Mae Khit's leaders in March, 2024, we decided to go to Mae Khit to explore the water challenges during 8-9 April, 2024. It was a long and tired journey , but quite fruiuful !
Seeing the real situations together with discussions and consultations with Mae Khit team reflected how hard they try to live with lack of water. They have been contacting local organizations to help their water problems, but it was not successful.
Before leaving the village, we had an agreement with the leaders, we are going to solve the water challenges with Mae Khit team during 27-28 April, 2024. We are going to provide materials and the villagers going to share their labours.
Let' s join us to create positive changes at Mae Khit ! All kinds of your supports are very welcome !
During 11-12 March 2024, we got contacts from leaders of Mae Keed village. They need us to support water challenges at the village
This Karen village located at Mae Na Jang Subdistrict, Mae La Noi District, Mae Hong Son Province, in the northern Thailand. There are 96 households in the village. The villagers relied on hill water system. The water head of the village loated at a hill, four kilometers to the east of the village.
The water challenges at the village are;
1) At the village's water head only small amonut in dry season is not enough for the 96 households. 2)The pvc pipes transporting water from the water head to the village's water tanks are broken for dome 1.5 kilometers. 3) the village's water tanks are very old and some are broken and warer leaking. So the tanks cannot store enough water for the HHs consumptions.
We planned to go to the site to learn the challenges and how to over come the challenges with the village's leaders in early April !
Would you like to join us ?
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| Mae Keed Village location |
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| water at the village's water head in rainy season |
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| the broken pipe |
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| water leaking from the tank |
According to our campaign to collect clothes, shoes and necessaries from our local network to a doctor at Khun Yuam Hospital and we got a lot of contribusions. The sharing was packed in 13 big boxed and sent to the doctor. He kindly shared the happiness to 60 school kids and the kids will share the happiness to their neighbours. This is marvellous !
Sharing is a forever Happiness, we belief !
We got contacts from our local network innforming a need on water challenges at Nernsaduak village. We then join the village meeting with three local network, Word Vision, P Change and Hill Area Development Foundation (HADF).
From the disscussion and site recce, we got to know that this 35 years old village located under forest reservation area .Most of the villagers are Akha ans some are Esan who migrated in from many location in Chiang Rai and from our neighbor country. There are 445 villagers of 94 households and some of them are stateless. They grow corns and cassavas.
Challenges on water are about 1) the land onwership . The present land of tank location belongs to an individual and he wants to get the land back as soon as possible. 2) water pipes transporting water to the water tanks always broken in rainy season while there aremany leaves in the dams in summer.
After the site recce, we had a discussion and drafted a plan to 1) build four water tanks of 1.50 cm. diameter / 200 cm high to store some 14,000 litres of water at a piece of land which are more secured. 2) build higher dam wall at the water head to prevent water pipes. 3) to find the way to prevent leaves getting into water pipe.
The leader asked us if we could support materails while they share their labours . We did not make any commitment but we told them we will have to estimate the cost of materials and put this issue into SCF committee meeting agenda.
Before we left, we introduced them to re-arrabge water distribution from the village tanks to the households fronm fishbone pattern to be looping system. So every household can get water when they turn on water taps at the same time. Also we introduced the leaders to set up water management especially using water carefully under a certain agreement or rules with effective enforcement.
During 2009-2023, most of our tasks on water with local people were uncreasing water supply, water storage at village, cluster and household levels. Thses work were very supportive to the villagers to access to clean water.
In 2024 we starts to focus on quality of water feeding villages, so we set up workshops for leaders , youths and school kids on simple way to test water qulaity in the streams.
We belief this activity can help local people to be more self-reliance on water. This is one of the sustainable ways on "WATER".
How nice to see the "STREAMS DETECTIVES" of three generations working actively and happily together at the village's water head.
Our February is to prepare area based project on environment at Romthai village. Along the way we set up a campagin " Sharing Happiness to Khun Yuam"
Got to know from our local network, a doctor who has dedcated himself working for marginalized people around Mae Hong Son for many years that many people are in-need.
We also got to know that Mae Hong Son was the highest proportion of the poor province and being one of the province with Chronic poverty in 2023. Then we informed our local network for their donations of necessities which was very successful. Some also donated cash into the "Phato village medicine Fund"
February not only the month of LOVE but also the month of Happiness !
As Winston Curcill mentioned "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give". We are happy to give to the vulnerable people!
ฺWould like to join our sharing missiom? Please email us !
We started our first 2024 mission with a water quality testing workshop at Chiang Rai Rajabhat University(CRRU). Our committees and volunteers learnt and practice how to evaluate water quality using biological methods. The method is simple and applicable for local people to evaluate how clean is the water feeding their communities. So they can pareapre early local plans to manage their water sources/water head and streams.
One important thing to achieve sustainable development is to enhance local people to be self-reliance. To be able to test water quality by themselves is one example.
Our first step was very joyful and meaningful with knowledge, experiences and friendship. We believe 2024 is a happy and successful journey "Our success is not only achieveing the SCF goals, but also enjoying to learn and share with the team and local people along the way"
The SCF team would like to express our gratitute to all local people at our project sites, friends and network for all kind supports in 2023. The journey to create positive impacts is a never ending one. The kind friendship is an inspiration for us to keep on the journey. Hope we will enjoy our working together again next year. Our Best Year Wishes 2024 to all!
