Location: Jharkhand & West Bengal
Focus Areas: Water Access | Climate Resilience | Community Awareness
“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.”
– Benjamin Franklin
In India’s rural heartlands, water is more than a resource it’s a daily negotiation for dignity, health, and survival.
This year, as we marked World Environment Day, our work across 14 centers turned the spotlight not only on green spaces and climate change, but also on a more immediate and urgent concern: water who has it, how it’s used, and why it matters.
The Rural Water Reality
In many tribal and underserved communities across Jharkhand and West Bengal, water doesn’t flow from taps. Women and children often walk kilometres to fetch water from wells, hand pumps, or local streams. The task isn’t just tiring it’s time-consuming and risky, especially during dry spells or heavy rains.
In some villages, water sources dry up during summer. In others, they are contaminated due to poor sanitation or mining runoff. Without safe drinking water, health risks skyrocket from diarrheal diseases to malnutrition. Girls miss school because of menstrual hygiene challenges. Families spend precious income treating avoidable illnesses.
The Gendered Burden
Access to water is deeply gendered. It’s the women and young girls who bear the daily burden fetching, storing, rationing. And when time is spent collecting water, it’s time taken away from education, income generation, and rest.
Turning Awareness into Action
That’s why, this World Environment Day, we used our classrooms to spark real, grounded conversations not just about forests or climate policy, but about what sustainability looks like in their own lives.
- Over 1000 students came together across 14 locations.
- We planted saplings, discussed environmental changes in our villages, and created art using natural colours.
- In 10 centers, children and facilitators reflected on how their water sources have changed wells that once overflowed now run dry by April.
We encouraged students to ask questions like:
Why is our stream smaller than before? Where has the forest gone? Why are summers getting hotter?
And most importantly: What can we do about it?
Small Acts, Deep Impact
Environmental awareness in rural India cannot be limited to textbooks or one-off events. It has to be integrated into daily life through activities like rainwater harvesting, reusing greywater, conserving hand pump areas, and protecting community forests.
At Parinaama, we’re weaving water consciousness into our curriculum, helping children and women understand their rights, the science of water conservation, and the connection between the environment and everyday life.
When a child plants a sapling or learns how water tables work, they don’t just gain knowledge, they gain agency.
🌱 Join Us in Creating a Water-Wise Future
By supporting rural education, you’re also supporting environmental action at the grassroots.
Together, let’s ensure that no child has to choose between water and school.
📩 contact@parinaama.org
🌐 www.parinaama.org/donate
