- February 23, 2011 • 3:30 am PST
- + comments
- See original
- prevnext
Ram Rati is a 40-year-old female mechanic in India. If you think that sounds impressive, it is, but that's not the half of it. Rati was married off at 11 years old and escaped at 13. She spent the next 15 years grinding wheat for a living. An admirable story of perseverance all too common in her native India, but the real achievement comes next.
Rati is now a hero in her village, in part because she's now using her mechanic's know-how to fix broken wells and increase the availability of clean water. She has also become and advocate for other women in her conservative region of rural northern India, encouraging them to remove their veils, send their girls to school and, for some of them, to become mechanics, too. (Pics of a few of them later in the slideshow)
With her income from fixing wells, Rati purchased an irrigation system and 15 acres of land where she grows peas and wheat. She now employs two women for the village. The ripples of impact spread out in many directions from Rati.
This all comes to us through the Adventure Project. Every quarter, the young nonprofit picks a different issue and then raises funds for one quality NGO working toward a solution in that area. Last quarter it was charcoal-efficient stoves. Their current issue is sanitation clean water, with a "Keep it Clean" campaign they just launched. Adventure Project is partnering with WaterAid. That's where we meet Ram Rati.
Back when Rati was pounding wheat for a living, she grew tired of broken wells—one-third of wells she lives don't work. WaterAid had just started a well mechanics program to train up micro-entrepreneurs to fix wells and earn an income in the process. Rati was one of the first women to apply. Now, when a well breaks, she gets a call, straps her tools to her bike, and pedals on over.
So far, Rati and the WaterAid team have repaired 300 wells in the last two years. Now, the Adventure Project wants to help them expand the program to other regions by sharing Rati's amazing story—and the amazing photos in the rest of this slideshow.
People can help by in two ways: donating directly or buying a symbolic bar of soap on sale for $20 via the website. There are still more than 4,000 broken wells in the Indian district of Mahoba. Let's help train more Ram Rati's to increase access to clean water through micro-enterprise.
Above: Ram Rati beams with excitement and confidence. “Now, where ever I go I get respect. Surrounding villages, whichever handpumps fail, they call me.”
Images by Esther Havens courtesy of the Adventure Project.
