Muslim Hands has so far built 2,700 tube wells and four Dig-a-Wells in Bangladesh. In the village of Kariya, northern Bangladesh, the people work hard preparing and harvesting the crops they will sell at the local markets. As well as this, many of the villagers keep small livestock.
Our team paid a visit to the area to see the construction of a new tube well that will provide safe, drinkable water for the five families that live there.
The nearest water source is a stagnant pool, which is used by people and animals alike.
The water from the stream is used for everything, even drinking. The locals have to boil the water to make it safe, but with the new tube well they will have immediate access to clean water.
The tools our builders use are basic and the 30 metre deep hole needed to accommodate the pipe is dug by hand.
But the team of Muslim Hands builders have over 40 years of experience between them and they make fast work of the strenuous task of constructing the well.
There is more work to be done. The villagers will pump the well for up to five hours before the water is completely clean. But already, within a few minutes of pumping, the water looks cleaner than the water from the stream.
Hard gravel is the first thing to come out of the well.
And now this tube well will provide these families with clean, safe water for years to come.
The team will return the next day to build a cement platform.
Established in 1996, Muslim Hands SA NPC is an aid agency and NGO aiming to help those affected by natural disasters, conflict and poverty. It is a branch of Muslim Hands UK established in 1993 in Nottingham.
