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The name of Kan At village in Myanmar, also known as Burma, means 'Deep Pond'. But recently the villagers have had to start paying for water to be brought into their community.

"Our pond was as deep as a well but it has been drying up," says villager Khin Saw Win. "We don’t really have a distinct rainy season anymore and the rains come three times [a year]."

"Although we have water in the pond for five months, the rest of the year it is dry. And when the rains do come, they are very heavy. The walls at the side of the pond break down and wash away and we cannot contain all the water."

Inspiring discussion

Khin Saw Win is a field officer – or 'fellow' – for one of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Media Action's partners in Myanmar, also known as Burma, .

ActionAid's Fellowship Programme trains young volunteers to live in rural communities for two years, working with villagers to identify and solve challenges.

One of Khin’s jobs as a fellow is to coordinate a listeners group of 30 young people who gather together every week to listen to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Media Action's youth radio show Lan Lat Kyiar Sin (Bright Young Stars).

"The value of what we do is that it brings young people together," Khin says. "In the past young women and boys were not allowed to talk to each other in the evening because it was considered improper. Now, through the listener group, we have the chance to meet and discuss things – to share what our problems and difficulties are."

"It has been good for the girls in the village too and given us all more confidence as we realised we could all take part and play a part. It has helped change others’ point of view and we all realised the discussion group could lead to good things."

"After listening to an edition of LLKS on water conservation we decided to take action ourselves," Khin says.

"The programme told us how people in other parts of the country were volunteering to stop their lakes getting polluted and by clearing the weeds and silt. We decided to dig out the pond to make it deep again and to shore up and strengthen the wall sides."

"When it is very hot we work at night to move the dregs from the bottom of the pond and then use the mud to build up the sides."

Khin and her friends work as a team, helping each other to spade the mud into baskets and carry the heavy loads together.

Khin says, "When the monsoon rains come this time, we will be ready."