Maitri

Maitri supports volunteer initiatives and humanitarian causes through a volunteer-based forum. Their focus areas are health, education, relief and rehabilitation.

Ruipathar is a small isolated community of about 250 people in the remote jungles of Melghat in the Satpura mountain range of the Amravati district in Maharashtra. It has a hilly terrain with dry forest areas and is famous for its tiger-reserve and teak wood. The available source of natural water was about a kilometre away from the village of Ruipathar. The women trekked up a hill to fetch water for everyday household and personal use.

Troubled by this back-breaking labour the villagers went through to obtain water, Maitri approached Sunlit Future to find a solution where water could be brought to the village. Sunlit Future installed a submersible solar pump powered by 18 solar panels in the bore well, which was situated in the forest 1km away from Ruipathar. A pipeline carried the water from the bore well to a water tank (which was also built) in the village. Ever since, everyone in the village has access to clean water right at their doorstep.

This project has improved the health of the community, saved their time and ended their drudgery of carrying heavy loads of water for their daily needs. This water project became a boon to the villagers and has made Ruipathar the only village in the whole of Melghat district (which consists of 322 villages) to have 24-hour continuous access to water.

Additionally, in March 2011, Maitri approached Sunlit Future to install street and home lights in Ruipathar. The necessary funding was donated by an Italian NGO called HUWI (Humanwave Italia) that supports environmental projects in remote parts of India. Students of Sankalp helped out, and a few other private donors also chipped in.

Since then, Ruipathar has become the only village out of 322 villages in the Melghat region to have 24-hour access to water and electricity, during the night, thanks to solar powered energy.

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