Students join hands for sustainable change

Petition and protest march by 14 students from Massachusetts and Vikhroli have resolved the water crisis for families living in Mankhurd

It took a petition from 14 Standard X students from Massachusetts and Vikhroli and a protest march by local residents to get regular water supply for 81 families living in Mankhurd’s Lalubhai compound.

The residents who were relocated from various slums in the city received water only once in three days. But the community service project of the eight students from Phillips Academy, Massachusetts, changed all that. Partnered with six students from Udayachal High School, Vikhroli, the group worked on a project to bring sustainable development for a local community. The programme christened ‘Niswarth’ also took the help of the NGO Akanksha.

“Students from both the schools conducted a survey of issues troubling the locals and found that water was one of the major ones,” said Rajesh Mundra, assistant dean, Community and Multicultural Development, Phillips Academy, Massachusetts. “The community also conducted a protest march in July. The students wrote a petition and submitted it to the local ward office,” he added.

The American students, who left Mumbai on July 5, discovered that their efforts had brought relief to the residents. “We have heard that now every single building is getting  running water for eight minutes daily. This is a sustainable change,” said the excited students in their blog.

The students also cleaned the building to provide a hygienic environment. “Since there was no water, we took advantage of the rain and collected water from rain gutters. The halls were dirty and flies swarmed these areas,” said Dominic DeJesus, one of the students.

“Seeing the students clean their areas, the community people too left their homes to join the students. They too cleaned the halls,” said Mansi Shah of Akanksha.

Taking a cue from the students, the residents have decided to change their lives. “It motivated us to see these youngsters work for our community. I have now started a campaign to increase income generation among women of the community,” said Sangeeta Zombade, a local resident. The community has also joined hands with Akanksha to learn more.

However, for the students the programme doesn’t end here. “We plan to do follow up projects and will keep in touch with our American counterparts through the internet,” said Neha Vinod, student of Udayachal High School, Vikhroli.
r_priya@dnaindia.net