March
3rd
2014

Shantuben – Akwada Village, Bhavnagar, Gujarat

Shantuben, has lived a very difficult life and faced challenges every single day. Her love for her family has driven her to do anything it takes to nurture her family. In order to keep her ill husband alive, Shantuben has donated one of her kidneys. On top of this stress, her daughter faces fear everyday and jeopardizes her safety when she walks long distances to find a place to defecate.
Akwada village is a peri-urban village that lacks space for women to go and defecate. She learnt about access to loans for toilets from the women’s federation, which is being supported by Shanti. The family pitched in to dig a pit, and she was helped by the village to source a trustworthy mason. Now that her unit is ready, she will save enough funds to eventually attach a door for privacy. At the moment, she uses a curtain to uphold privacy of the girls and ladies in the household. She regularly pays her dues and has said emphatically, “I may go hungry but will never miss on my installment”.