“I was 22 when I was married. It was a love marriage. Due to ignorance, the whole society speaks behind your back if you cannot give birth to a son. After 5 daughters, I had a son. I think it was only them I was able to shut them all down.
Even though I was a teacher myself, I had to go through all this. I know the importance of education and therefore sent all my children to school. I hope they will understand our difficulties when they grow up and look after us.
When I came to this place after marriage, there were only 90 households. Every morning, people from every ward would gather around a single tap to collect water. It would be midnight when they returned home carrying merely a bucket. You see, it was a small water tap and the water wasn’t sufficient. Three whole villages were dependent on a single tap. There are several instances where we quenched our thirst with the water from the river. It would be so cold that it would freeze our mouths. But we had no other options. Cattle would drink water from the same source.
Recently, an NGO supported the construction of a reserve tank and a few outlets along with supply pipes. Currently, there are 12 water outlets for 200 households. That means one tap for 9-10 families. The floods and landslides of last year created a lot of damage. Even the old taps were covered in debris. We are again compelled to drink water from the river. We had to resort to our ways.
There are instances that an excavator constructing roads also cuts off the supply line and we don’t have access to water for several days. During such times, we go back to the river. Before drinking, some people boil it while some don’t. For times of crisis, we store water in drums and other vessels.
Although the situation has improved after an organization supported the construction of water taps, things are very difficult sometimes. Water is not sufficient. You have to make a hard choice. “Am I going to cook with the available water or do I clean?”. The taps aren’t maintained regularly and thus there is a lot of wastage.
We have a routine for water supply as it is not available 24 hours. A keeper is appointed for regulating the supply. Every house pays him Rr 50 on a monthly basis. Although we have a keeper, we know that he is not equipped with proper tools and we know that only depending upon him is not going to provide us with water in the long term. We do not want water that is controlled and rationed, someone dictating the quantity and access time. We want the water to flow 24/7. Water is part of nature and we would like to use it for free and sufficiently like other people do. Water is a basic need. We already struggle to provide rice for our families every day.
You see, I am a differently-abled person. I can’t do any work without anyone’s support since I was 10 years of age. It is because of the loving husband and daughter I am still alive. There might have been lots of people like me in Nepal but neither the government nor any other organizations understand our grievances. I wish everyone would put their attention on making disabled-friendly infrastructures.”
– Roopkala Yogi Sahi, Badkhi, Hima, Jumla
“विवाह हुँदा म २२ वर्षकी थिएँ । हाम्रो प्रेम विवाह भएको हो । अज्ञानताको कारणले गर्दा एउटा महिलाले छोरा पाउन सकिन भने पुरै समाजले कुरा काट्ने गर्छ । पाँचवटा छोरी पाएपछि मैले पनि छोरो पाएँ । त्यसपछि मात्रै सबैजनाको बोल्ती बन्द गरिदिएँ भन्ने लाग्छ।
म आफै शिक्षिका हुँ । तर मैले नै यो सबै भोग्नु पर्यो । मलाई शिक्षाको महत्व थाहा छ । त्यसैले मैले मेरो सबै छोराछोरीहरूलाई स्कुल पठाएको छु । यिनीहरू ठूला भएपछि हाम्रो समस्या बुझ्लान्, हामीलाई हेर्लान् भन्ने आसा छ ।
विवाह भएर म यस ठाउँमा आउँदा यहाँ ९० घरधुरी मात्रै थिए । हरेर विहान सबै वडाका मानिसहरू पानी थाप्न एउटै धाराको वरिपरी झुम्मिन्थे । कहिलेकाहीँ त एक गाग्रो पानी भरेर घर फर्किँदा आधीरात नै हुनेगर्थ्यो । धारा नै सानो भएकोले पानी नै पर्याप्त आउँथेन । तीनवटा गाउँले भर्ने एउटै धारा भएपछि कहाँ पुग्थ्यो र? तिर्खा मेट्न खोलाको पानी त कति खाइयो कति । जाडोको बेला पानी यति चिसो हुन्थ्यो कि हाम्रो मुख नै जम्ला जस्तो हुन्थ्यो । हामीसँग अर्को विकल्प पनि त थिएन । गाईवस्तुले पनि त्यहीँकै पानी खान्थे ।
हालसालै, एउटा संस्थाले पानी ट्याङ्की, पाइप र केही धाराहरू बनाउन सहयोग गरेको थियो । त्यसैले अहिले २०० घरधुरीका लागि १२ वटा धाराहरू छन् । त्यो भनेको ९-१० जना परिवारको लागि एउटा धारा हो । गत साल बाढी पहिरोले धेरै नै क्षेती पुर्यायो । पुराना ढुङ्गेधाराहरू पनि पुरिए । त्यसपछि हामी फेरी खोलाकै पानी खाने अवस्थामा पुग्यौँ ।
कहिलेकाहीँ त बाटो खन्ने डोजरले पनि पानीको पाइप काटिदिन्छ । अनि हप्तौँसम्म धारामा पानी आउँदैन । त्यतिखेर पनि जाने त त्यही खोला नै हो । खोलाको पानी कसैले उमालेर खान्छन्, कसैले त्यो पनि गर्दैनन् । यस्तै अप्ठेरो बेलाको लागि भनेर हामी ड्रम अनि गाग्रीमा पानी जम्मा पारेर राख्छौँ ।
विभिन्न संघसंस्थाहरूको सहयोगमा बनाइएको धाराले केही राहत त मिलेको छ तर कहिलेकाहीँ त साह्रै अप्ठेरो पर्छ । पानी नै पुग्दैन । के गर्ने, के नगर्ने । अलिकती पानीले खाना पकाउनु कि लुगा धुनु? धारा पनि मर्मत गर्दैनन् । त्यसैले धेरै पानी खेर जान्छ ।
चौविसै घण्टा पानी नपुग्ने भएकाले हामीले पानी आउने समयको एउटा तालिका बनाएका छौँ । पानी खोल्न, बन्द गर्न एकजना चौकिदार नियुक्त गरिएको छ । मासिकरुपमा हरेक घरले ५० रुपैयाँ उठाएर दिने गरेका छौँ । पानीको चौकिदार त छ तर हामीलाई थाहा छ उसलाई चाहिने स्रोत साधन अनि औजार केही पनि दिन सकिएको छैन । हामीलाई थाहा छ, ऊमा मात्रै भर परियो भने दिर्घकालिनरुपमा हामीलाई पानी पुग्दै पुग्दैन । कसैले कस्तो गुणस्तरको पानी, कति समय, कति दिने भनेर निर्धारण र नियन्त्रण गरेको हामी चाहँदैनौँ । हप्तामा सातै दिन चौविसै घण्टा आउने पानी हामीलाई चाहिन्छ । पानी भनेको त प्राकृतिक चिज हो नि । अरुलाई जस्तै हामीलाई पनि निशुल्क र पर्याप्त पानी उपलब्ध हुनुपर्छ । पानी भनेको त आधारभुत आवश्यकता हो नि । परिवारका सवैलाई भात खुवाउन नै धेरै संघर्ष गरिरहनु परेको छ हामीलाई । पानीको लागि कसरी पैसा तिर्न सक्छौँ?
म फरक क्षमता भएको त तपाइँले देखिहाल्नुभयो । म १० वर्षको उमेर हुँदादेखि नै हरेक कुरामा मलाई अरुको सहायता चाहिन्छ । माया गर्ने मेरो श्रीमान र छोरीका कारणले मात्रै म अहिलेसम्म बाँचेको हुँ । नेपालमा म जस्ता धेरै नै छौँ होला । तर हाम्रो गुनासो न त सरकारले, न त कुनै संस्थाले बुझेको छ । अपाङ्गतामैत्री पुर्वाधारहरू बनाउन सबैको ध्यान पुगोस् भन्ने कामना मात्रै गर्न सक्छ ।”
– रुपकला योगी साही