Water, Community Wells

This project helped 11 villages with 18,000 people. In short, the people of Gubbi Taluk in the Tumkur District needed water. During the summer months, women would have to walk four kilometers to bring drinking water to their homes. The people have some wells, but they are very dirty, causing waterborne illness, diarrhea, cholera, skin diseases, etc. This area also has seen farmers commit suicide as they cannot carry on their debt and are unable to bear the sight of their starving children.

LDS Charities (LDSC) partnered with St. Thomas Mission to dig three new borewells and three new tower holding tanks along with repairing two existing towers and tanks. The contractor also enjoyed helping to create one water tank for the farmers’ livestock and several washing stations for each village. The finances came from LDSC, but the people, connections, and trust came from the Mission. Father Francis said, “We believe that you are angels sent by God to the people to quench their thirst.”

The government was not able to do this project due to the scarcity of funds, and so they are thankful to LDSC for having taken up this project. When the wells were dug and the water burst from the ground, the people were leaping for joy and they said, “LDSC is a gift from God.”

One village woman said, “Now I can get water every four days with many pots, instead of walking long distances every day to fill one pot.”