Om Prakash Sharma talked to over sixty supporters direct from his home in Udaipur.
Please note this blog was posted on 24th April, 2020.
As many of you know, we had to cancel our annual ‘Spring Sammelan’ due the lock down. We really wanted to let people know about the work we are doing, the work we have done and how we plan to combat the challenges we are facing in India right now. During our online ‘zoom’ event Om Prakash, our India director, gave a short presentation and then took questions. It was a fantastic turnout with people joining from all corners of the world – including New Zealand and Australia.
Preventing distress migration
Om reiterated how our work prevents forced migration. With his powerpoint, he showed people the work we do – ranging from irrigation programmes, water at home and also rejuvenating land – which enables people to stay in their communities and not be forced to go to to the cities in search of low paid and often dangerous work. One of the most interesting slides was of the Gangeshwar Basin. The water harvesting structures we put in over many years have had a transformative effect on the land – turning it from brown, barren land to green.
Standing by our partners
WaterHarvest has a long history – over 33 years. During this time, we have worked with 48 partners – ranging from NGOs to academic institutions and local government bodies. We are hugely proud of our long standing relationships with our partners. They are key to delivering our programmes. During this challenging time, we are determined to stand by them. Whilst the construction work has paused as a result of the lock down, we are still paying all our field and community workers. Many of whom are now working to distribute food to those in need. We will continue to stand by our partners during this time so that when work resumes we can continue – and maybe even increase- our programmes.
Thank you
We are hugely grateful to all those who support us. It was lovely to see so many people on the call. Please do get in touch if you would like to hear more about the work we do or have any further questions.
