Sita Maya’s Story

This is Sita Maya

She lives in a village in far western Nepal

Each day she walks for hours to the nearest river to collect water

There is not enough water to drink and to grow crops

How would you make this difficult choice? What do you think you would do?

Sita May and her family drink a little and use a little for their crops.

What happens if you don’t water plants enough?

The crops don’t get enough water so they don’t grow very big.

Practical Action used pipes to take water from high in the mountains

The pipes took the water to big storage tanks.

Now Sita Maya and her family can get water from taps in the village.

They have enough to drink and to water crops.

Sita Maya no longer has to walk for hours and has more time for school and friends.

Ideas for a minute lesson This lesson will help the pupils to understand the importance of water and its uses, in particular drinking and growing crops. It will develop an understanding of how we rely on water in our communities and how different communities in developing countries rely on it. It will also give an understanding of how developing countries don’t have easy access to water as we do in the UK. Link – See also English Activity – ‘A Long Walk to Water’ and

Activity 1 Begin the lesson by discussing with the pupils what they use water for on a daily basis: Drinking, having a bath or shower, flushing the toilet, washing hands, brushing teeth, paddling pools (the summer is upon us!) etc. Visit scroll down the activity column to Food Choices then scroll to Using Water and the Water Use Calculator. Use the Water Use Calculator (an active excel sheet) to add up how many litres of water different activities use and click the graph tab to show the amounts as a bar chart. (The Water Use pdf is a Climate Choices lesson plan designed to be used with the water use calculator and can be used instead). also gives information about the amount of water different activities use.

Explain the importance of using water for crops, and how it helps to grow many of the foods we eat every day. Ask the children where they get their water from. The obvious answer will be a tap or a bottle. This can then lead into telling Sita Maya’s story to the class. This will highlight the difference in access to water. It will also explain what Sita Maya uses the water for and how her and her family have to make a very difficult choice between drinking the water and using it to water crops/grow food. It will highlight the importance of using water to grow crops.

Activity 2 Matching crops and plants with the end product. You could follow this up with our science based activity and make a simple drip irrigation system like the ones used in Nepal.

How to build your own drip irrigation kit. Activity 3

Step 1. Create a platform that is a metre high to rest your bucket on. This could be an old stool that you’ve modified, you could build a stand out of bricks or you could build a frame like the one here

Step 2. Find yourself an old bucket and make three holes in the bottom of it, big enough to fit a piece of hosepipe through, but not too big that it falls out.

Step 3. Find some old garden hose and cut three lengths big enough to lay along your garden so that it will reach all of your seeds. Then make small holes in the hose around 20cm apart.

Step 4. Place the pieces of hose in the holes in the bucket and make sure they are sealed using gaffer tape.

Step 5. Next, plant three rows of seeds in your garden. Make sure the seeds are about 30cm apart.

Step 6. Finally place your bucket and hose on top of your stand at the edge of your garden. Lay the hoses along-side your seeds, and when you fill the bucket your seeds will be watered.

If you don’t have a garden at the school you can still take part in this project, simply plant your seeds in a window box instead and create your own mini drip irrigation system using a large plastic cup and bendy straws. Leaky hoses saving lives Step 6. Finally place your bucket and hose on top of your stand at the edge of your garden. Lay the hoses along-side your seeds, and when you fill the bucket your seeds will be watered. Step 5. Next, plant three rows of seeds in your garden. Make sure the seeds are about 30cm apart. Step 4. Place the pieces of hose in the holes in the bucket and make sure they are sealed using gaffer tape. Step 3. Find some old garden hose and cut three lengths big enough to lay along your garden so that it will reach all of your seeds. Then make small holes in the hose around 20cm apart. Step 2. Find yourself an old bucket and make three holes in the bottom of it, big enough to fit a piece of hosepipe through, but not too big that it falls out. Step 1. Create a platform that is a metre high to rest your bucket on. This could be an old stool that you’ve modified, you could build a stand out of bricks or you could build a frame like the one here