The Bonita Trust provides funding for water and sanitation facilities for 1,500 families in rural Orissa, India.

With financial support from The Bonita Trust, based in Gibraltar, Gram Vikas has recently launched a water and sanitation project in 20 rural habitations in the state of Orissa.

MANTRA Movement and Action Network for the Transformation of Rural Areas project aims to provide a toilet and bathing room with piped water supply to each of the target 1500 families in 20 villages over a two year period. The establishment of community-led water and sanitation infrastructure is complemented with a series of capacity of building activities around health and hygiene education, leadership development and fund management.

Ruth Parasol DeLeon, founding member of the Bonita Trust's International Advisory Board says We visited Gram Vikas during our field trip to India in January, and were extremely impressed by the development work that they have undertaken in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country. They have an entrepreneurial approach to developing the necessary technology to provide for the most basic needs of the communities, and have established working partnerships with the families which lie at the heart of the development programmes.

GRAM VIKAS

Gram Vikas is a rural development non-governmental organization working towards sustainable improvement in the quality of life of poor and marginalized people. It has been actively involved in development since 1979 and serves over two hundred and fifty thousand people in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand states.

For more information contact Gram Vikas at telephone: 0680-22 618 63 to 69; or

email: gramvikas@gmail.com , info@gramvikas.org ; website: www.gramvikas.org