This is a well meaning question posed often to me as The Rhema Project continues to fund the drilling of new wells or the filtration of existing ones to provide reliable, fresh, clean drinking water to villages and field partners in India.

I believe they are really asking this – “How does good drinking water stop the killing of 1.2 million baby girls each year in India?” It is a great question, especially coming from a western worldview that water is essentially a commodity. Turn on the tap in your kitchen and most of us our set.

People can survive 3 to 8 days without water but in rural India, especially in southern India where daytime temperatures can reach over 120 degrees and access to any water is limited at best, a reliable water source is essential for all life.

So from a macro viewpoint, drilling a 500 foot bore well in a village provides TRP with;

1. Immediate creditability within the entire village.
2. Families quickly move from daily survival to a sustaining attitude.
3. Improved health standards for the entire village – including the girls.

From a young girls perspective, a well immediately removes the “domino effect” that causes her to loose hope of finding self-worth or be given any value as a person. A village well provides her with;

1. A Chance for Life. While still in her mother’s womb if her mother has adequate and good drinking water the baby girl’s chance for surviving her birth increases significantly.
2. A Chance for Health. The majority of deaths of young girls is the direct result of preventable water-born illnesses that are typically left untreated when you are a girl child. So, if a girl survives her first few years she has;
3. A Chance for Education. Since she does not need to walk 2 to 5 miles to carry water back home she can stay in school.
4. A Chance for Economic Opportunity. Every year a girl is able to stay in school past the 6th standard her income earning potential will increase by 25%, the age she will be married is delayed and the number of children she will have will decrease by nearly 30%.
5. A Chance to Change Culture. When a woman is given an opportunity to earn an income she will reinvest her earnings back into the care and education of her children giving them a greater opportunity and raising the value of both her sons and daughters.

Cultural beliefs, habits and patterns are difficult to change. Many times, any small hurdle becomes a virtual road block to change. A reliable bore well in a rural village that provides good drinking water eliminates many of the reasons “not to change.”

So when I share that an investment of $1500 to $2000 USD to drill a 500 ft. bore well in villages in southern India will provide an entire village with reliable, fresh drinking water, many friends now share “Why Not Water!”