A tap stand for every home in Benitar

With only seventeen households, Benitar is a small community which relies on secure pipelines and water tanks for daily access to water. When the earthquake struck three years ago, much of their water infrastructure was damaged making life harder for people living there. Through their Raleigh project, volunteers have been doing their bit to improve this.

Raleigh volunteer Lola said: “When the earthquake struck it damaged the water pipeline in the community and made water access more difficult. We’re now making a new pipeline which will help. We’re digging the trench where the pipe will go, and then we will connect it to new tap stands and handwashing stations which will be built in homes across the community. It’s a big project – we’ve already dug the entire main line for the pipe and have dug the connections from the main line to the tap stands in each home.”

By providing tap stands for homes in Benitar, it will change life for the families living in the community. Dahn Kumare has lived in Benitar since she was born and has never had her own personal tap station. She said:

“After having the tap station, it will be much easier for me to fetch water as there will be no need to go to the stream. I won’t have to wait in a queue for water and it will save me time. This will mean I will be able to feed my children at the right time so that they won’t be late for school. By having my own tap station, it will also be easier for me to grow vegetables which will help me earn some more money. All of this will help my daughter too, as she helps a lot with the house work on top of her studies”.

At 900 metres, digging the pipeline has been a big job. Lola said: “I like working together with the community. While digging the mainline for the pipe, there were twelve volunteers and fifteen community members working on it together. It’s been really nice that they have been so enthusiastic to work with us on the project.”

On top of digging the pipeline, the volunteers have also been digging pits for new toilets which will be built in the community. This goes hand-in-hand with awareness raising activity which the volunteers have been running around sanitation and hygiene, highlighting the importance of handwashing in tackling illnesses like diarrhoea which are common in Benitar.

Raleigh volunteer Molly said: “We’ve dug so much already and we have physically made an impact. Because of what we’ve done here, we’ve developed a friendship and respect with the community which has enabled us to do so much more, like the awareness raising on other sanitation and hygiene issues”.

Raleigh volunteer Cat said: “Through the awareness raising we have been sharing ideas on hygiene practices that will be helpful for the community. These are things people will pass on to their children and to other communities. It’s something that’ll be communicated between people which will help to make a difference.”

After digging the pipeline, Raleigh volunteers in Benitar will move onto the next phase of the project, when they will finalise pipe laying and the construction of the handwashing stations and toilets. Find out more about our current Expedition on the Raleigh Nepal Facebook and Instagram page.