New Delhi: When newly married Babita Kumari arrived in the satellite town of Punpun, Bihar, she received the shock of her life - Her new home had no toilet! What disturbed her further was that her neighbours didn’t have toilets either.
Having grown up in a house with a toilet, she started to discover the looming challenges in the village that had led to unsafe sanitation - a clear lack of resources, hot climate, water scarcity, and traveling long distances for limited amounts of water. She realized that this practice of unsafe sanitation created problems such as bad odors and flies carrying diseases, among others. She expressed her wishes to her husband who finally built a toilet within the confines of the four walls.
“However, I suddenly realized that the issues I was facing were not only mine. Our community of women had been going through the same for the longest time. Inspired, I decided to work in the sanitation sector with the goal of improving the lives of women and children who don’t have access to safe sanitation. One of the goals of our ‘anganwadi’ community is to educate, spread awareness and empower people on the importance of safe sanitation and hygiene.”
Undeterred and determined, she embarked on a mission to bring about positive change within her community. Her research led her to discover an affordable and water-saving sanitation solution, effective in improving sanitation conditions. Through her efforts, Babita took these solutions to her community and raised awareness about safe sanitation irrespective of the lack of availability of water and subsequently improve the quality of their lives.
“The on-ground reality of suffering from water-borne diseases has a huge cascading effect on our day-to-day living and affects our income levels drastically. As an entrepreneur, I believe the products we're using have helped us to integrate a community-centric, sustainable solution that has changed the lives of many. I discovered that not only do SATO products save 80% water, but the amount of water usage is also very minimal which makes it an effective addition for us, given the scarcity of water in Punpun. Moreover, its patented trap-door technology helps minimize odors and keeps human waste out of site.”
Today, Babita has been working in the sanitation sector for several years now and has helped to educate many people about the importance of proper sanitation. She is passionate about her work, and she is determined to continue making a difference, one lifesaving step at a time.
