The enchanting village of Shri Rama Chandra Pur in the Indian state of Orissa lies amidst a magnificent natural setting. Here you feel as though you have been transported back to a time long past: the villagers still look for advice from the astrologer, the farmers use sustainable and traditional methods, and in the evening the priests sing pujas, banjas and mantras with the village community.
But many of these people living in this supposed paradise are sick. They suffer from typhoid, polio, dysentery, liver and kidney diseases, jaundice, intestinal cancer, anorexia, malaria and hepatitis — the list of the illnesses and complaints is long. The children are especially afflicted. There is hardly a child in Shri Rama Chandra Pur and the surrounding area who does not suffer from one or several of these diseases. Water is causing the problem. The water in the rivers and lakes, and sadly the drinking water as well, is contaminated with dangerous pathogens and pesticides. A lack of concern about the environment, but above all a lack of know-how, has created a calamity for the people. If just a few years ago people used ashes to wash their clothes in the lakes, and natural soap for body care, today they use chemicals and substances that are hazardous to their health. They don't use toilets to "do their business" because toilets simply don't exist; instead people often defecate right in the middle of the surrounding rice fields. The people's lack of ecological awareness threatens not only their environment but also their lives and the lives of their children and their children's children.Real Time Trust has set itself the goal of ending this undignified situation, step by step and using a variety of measures, for the people in and around the village of Shri Rama Chandra Pur.