Unlike a normal well, a duck well is not more than 10-15 ft deep and is usually dug outside a village. Most villages in Daringbadi have 4-5 duck wells depending on the size of the population. A natural source of water, most people here depend on these wells for their daily chores. In monsoons, these wells brim up quickly and water gets contaminated, making it unfit for drinking and other household purposes. Even the path leading up to these wells is mostly unkempt and uneven.

This problem faced by Daringbadi villages was very well addressed by Goonj with support from Ernst and Young India and the team encouraged over 80 people in Jogerimaha to come together and clean up their own duck well.

During rainy seasons, duck well gets filled up to the rim and clear water gets mixed with the dirty water outside the duck well, leaving the water unfit for drinking and many other purposes. The community mended the roads, cleared the bushes and also cleaned the duck wells. Also, Tarpaulins were provided to these people, which helped them create a shade (near the duck well) for more privacy to women in their daily chores. The group also made stairs on the side of the duck well for easier access to it. This act of working for the entire community not only brought a sense of pride and dignity in the hearts and minds of the people, but upon receiving the material to fix the wells also gave a sense of empowerment to the village community.

With the community working on specific development gap areas (in its own area) identified by the community itself instills a sense of ownership among them. These gap areas are different at different places, which was the main objective behind this intervention. This intervention encouraged the communities to take action against their problems, apply their wisdom, leadership and local resources to fill up the gaps. Supply of material definitely became a strong catalyst here to bring this change.

Goonj is a OneStage validated and supported NGO which is aided by our corporate partner Ernst and Young India under our Employee Givng programme.