Our Approach

The Healthy Hands Initiative’s efforts are not the first to address diarrheal disease in Bokaro nor will be the last initiative proposed. However, our team has mindfully integrated the lessons learned from previous attempts into our project design with special emphasis on sustainability and maintenance to integrate cost-effective, culturally familiar Afridev hand pumps.

In 2019, our Undergraduate Research Consultant Team (URCT) fieldwork found that the few working hand pumps in the seven researched villages run dry during the dry season due to poor implementation and lack of maintenance, where villagers resort to drinking from lakes polluted with fecal matter, causing diarrhea.

Historically, numerous national and local-level initiatives have attempted to reduce implications of water insecurity: Namely, the 2014 Swachh Bharat national campaign aimed to resolve public health issues related to diarrheal disease by eliminating open defecation, which was undermined by the inadequate understanding of cultural attitudes toward defecation. Despite the temporary alleviation of health challenges most efforts have failed to recognize the root cause of the health inequity: sustainable water and sanitation.

Up to date, there has been no externally funded Bokaro-specific program that has addressed water as the fundamental cause of diarrheal disease. Our promising solution integrates a cost-effective, culturally familiar Afridev hand pump: an approach grounded in cultural humility that promotes community buy-in unlike other unfamiliar cutting-edge water systems. As such, HHI is poised to fill an important gap in services for the Bokaro.