You may be wondering what exactly am I doing during my time in India. Well, in some ways I’m still figuring parts of it out. But as I mentioned in my introduction, I’m trying to pursue experiences related to water problems in India. Growing up in Seattle where water is everywhere and tap water is pure, visiting India every year where water is scarce and unclean, and living in Los Angeles where water is disappearing but usage is astronomical, I have developed a loving and appreciative relationship with water. So when I imagined myself tackling a problem with all my heart, water came to mind.
So in a nutshell, I’m arranging to work on a variety of different projects, with a variety of different organizations/institutions/communities, to see different facets of the problems that are existing and to immerse myself in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ultimately I hope to gain a sense for where in this complicated web I could see myself taking part.
My first project is working with an organization called Friendly Water for the World (www.friendlywater.net). I first heard of Friendly Water through People for Progress in India. When I reached out to David Albert (board chairmen of FW) last fall, he was not only excited to hear of my interest, but he happily welcomed me into the Friendly Water community and started sending ideas my way. Friendly Water is not a typical charity organization, which grabbed my attention. In alignment with my hope to empower people to change their own lives, Friendly Water trains people to build, sell, and educate around a simple filtration technology called the BioSand filter. The BioSand filter can eradicate water-borne illness, and have dramatically improved the health of communities around the world. Turns out, access to clean drinking water can have a tremendously positive ripple effect for a family, community, or town.
The health benefits certainly are attractive, but what really held my intrigue was that these filters aren’t manufactured elsewhere and dropped on people’s doorsteps. In every community where these filters are being used, they are also being made locally. When Friendly Water trains a group to make the filters, they also train people to become a self-sustaining micro-business. Through sourcing the materials themselves, fabricating the filters, and selling to their community, groups who join the Friendly Water community begin to generate income, giving them resources and opportunity. This economic-growth component to Friendly Water’s model is something that sets them apart.
Fast-forwarding a bit, through a couple of my own trainings and some time spent with the Friendly Water groups in Uganda and Tanzania, I am now working with Friendly Water in India for my first main project. I have come with Wayne, FW’s technical advisor, and his son, Noah, to an institute and ashram called Gandhigram, located in Tamil Nadu near Dindigul. I’ll get more into the details of this project as our work here progresses, but basically our vision is to set up a permanent BioSand filter training center. Groups from around India can come to trainings, and then take their knowledge and skills back to their home towns to build and sell filters there. In order to do this, we are setting up rainwater harvesting to ensure there is enough water for filter fabrication (they are made of concrete) and for the residing trainers and participants. We are also working with many local groups to find and train people to run the center after we leave. This project is 7 weeks long, so let’s see how quickly we can pull everything together!