Case Study: A Participatory Water Supply Scheme on a Tea Estate in Central Sri Lanka
Van der Laan, Anita (1998)
The Hague
In the past, Tamil workers on tea plantations in Central Sri Lanka depended on the management of the estate for all their basic needs. Although poor living conditions persisted, workers were discouraged from taking initiative to improve their own situation. This is slowly changing, but living and working conditions on most estates continue to be poor. In 1992, the plantation industry was privatized and plantation companies claim they cannot afford social welfare programmes. As well, District and Provincial government programmes for housing, water supply and sanitation, health care and education in the village sector do not reach the estate communities. Since 1995, the Plantation Social Welfare Organization (PSWO) assisted by a Rural Development Project (RDP) has begun to implement community based water supply schemes in worker settlements.
This case study deals with a water supply scheme in Luckyland Estate, Tulloes Division where social and technical officers of the PSWO and RDP worked together to develop a more participatory approach in drinking water supply programmes. The water supply scheme described in this case study serves the "School settlement" of Tulloes Division, a settlement of 450 people, who before the scheme had little access to a latrine and one water-point for all the 110 families.
Gender analysis before the project intervention reveals that women from 16 years do the hard physical labour of plucking tea from 8a.m. until 5p.m. daily and are responsible, before and after work, for all domestic tasks. Men working on the estate do not pluck tea (considered women's work), but instead prepare the land, apply fertilizer, spray pesticides, prune, work in the factory, act as drivers, or are field supervisors of groups of pluckers. Most of this work is done in the morning and after lunch men are free. Men never help with domestic chores although women and girls, already burdened with a heavy work load, spend 4-6 hours per day fetching water. Men earn the same amount for half a day's work as women earn for tea plucking. At household level, men represent their families but are often not fully aware of the specific needs and interests of their wives and daughters and women are often ill-informed. Within the family, men make most of the decisions, while on public matters women have even less decision making power. Cultural norms and values discourage women and girls from attending public meetings, giving opinions and taking part in decision making even on issues such as water which concern women most. The same culture has taught men and older boys that they do not have to listen to women and girls.
Because the social organization in tea plantations is still rather feudal, RDP and PSWO officers had to spend a lot of time and energy in encouraging management and beneficiaries to change the century old system especially concerning initiatives from the people themselves and the involvement of women who were not used to being asked their opinion. The programme was implemented through a series of steps including needs assessment, planning and design, training, construction and operation and maintenance. Men's and women's participation was ensured in each step by identifying men's and women's needs, informing each household about the programme, management giving women half days paid leave to attend meetings and training sessions, motivating women to come to meetings and training sessions by explaining the importance of their participation and by proving to them that it is worth their time, encouraging women to give their opinion in public by stressing the importance of their ideas, and getting men to listen to women by explaining women's crucial role in water supply issues.
These efforts are leading to positive results, both technically and socially. Each line now has a cistern tank which reduces the time women and girls spend fetching water and gives them some free time each day which can be spent on income generating activities. Women feel less mental and physical stress because they have more time and energy for their daily work. Men and women are growing used to the fact that women participate in decision making about water and are even more committed than men. Women have gained self- confidence as members of the water committee and maintenance team and this is encouraging them to participate actively in improving other aspects of their living conditions.
