A dentist and his family ditched Christmas in the UK for a life-changing trip to rural India to report on how a charity is improving the lives of young girls in poverty.
Bhavin Bhatt, CEO of the Aligner Alchemy Academy, flew to India on Christmas Eve. He headed over with his wife Meg and their two children Yash, 15, and daughter Eesha, 13, to see how Wells on Wheels is making a difference.
The charity is the brainchild of dental marketer Shaz Memon. It distributes water drums on wheels as an alternative for the women and girls who risk their health daily carrying heavy buckets of water on their heads to their communities.
This age-old system of water transportation also impacts negatively on the education of young girls. By gifting the innovative water wheels to rural communities, WOW frees up their time to attend school.
Incredible work
Aligner Academy, an Invisalign training company, was one of the first companies to integrate Wells on Wheels (WOW) into its business via the charity’s partner programme.
Documenting his experience on Facebook, Bhavin said: ‘I was excited to see the incredible work that Shaz Memon and his team do. The Wells on Wheels team chose one of the most remote villages in India.
‘Unknown to us, this was in the “interiors” – the equivalent to the Australian bush. These areas are so remote, our chauffeur would not drive to this area when it was dark. As we left the highway and went off-road on a 45-minute journey up a mountain, we had no idea how wrong Google maps could be.
‘It showed we were 4.2km away from the village. But the rock and pot-holed dirt track going into the mountains said something else to our chauffeur, who refused to take his car into the unknown.
‘We called Shaz, and his team arranged for four guys on motorbikes to pick us up. My daughter was traumatised. She even shed a little tear as she dismounted from the motorbike – I hope she will forgive me in time!’
For his family, it was a steep learning curve.
Simple innovation
‘My kids were shocked that children with so few material objects were so happy, joyous and abundant. The tribal villagers joyously danced in their village square. They celebrated the arrival of the wheels and we were honoured to join them in the celebrations,’ Bhavin said.
In total, 28 wheels were given to residents of the village by village elders and leaders. Recipients were registered and logged.
A group demonstration helped them understand how to use, maintain and look after their wheel.
The recipients then visited the local well approximately 3km from the village to test drive their new WOW gift.
Bhavin said: ‘The feedback we received on the impact on their lives brought tears to all our eyes – such a simple innovation, such a huge impact on the lives of tribal girls. The ground team will revisit the village in two months to assess the efficacy of the wells and guide the tribal villagers on how to maximise their benefit.’
He added: ‘Tribal villagers in India are not benefiting from the digital and economic revolution sweeping through India. They live a life akin to their forefathers of 200-300 years ago. For young girls not to access education because their families require them to visit the local well two to three times a day is unacceptable in 2023.
‘Thank the lord for brave visionaries like Shaz and his WOW team for the revolutionary and ground-breaking innovation.’
Life affirmative
Quoting the late Pramukh Swami Maharaj, he added: ‘I recall these words, “In the joy of others lies our own, in the progress of others rests our own, in the good of others abides our own, know this to be the key to peace and happiness” – and this trip has been life affirmative for us all. My children felt this was the most transformative experience of their life. They saw the impact hard work and enterprise through charity and philanthropy can have on humanity.’
Shaz commented: ‘I have been moved by Bhavin’s story. The journey his family took to reach one of the most remote villages in India.
‘I can only imagine how difficult and scary it must have been to travel on those rough and rocky roads. But it is clear the reward of bringing much-needed resources to this isolated village is worth it.’
To find out more about the charity, visit www.wellsonwheels.co.uk. To view the videos of the Wells on wheel Christmas Eve Distribution, visit https://youtu.be/ADCnzei3ueE.
