Yesterday, we completed one of the biggest parts of our trip to Gandhigram: the five-day BioSand filter training. From the beginning of our trip, we have been spreading the word and making as many connections as we could. As it got closer, we went around town to secure all the required tools and materials. I held meetings with organizations to arrange participants. We developed the syllabus and planned each day’s theoretical and practical lessons. I reached out to past participants and got a guest visitor to come share his experiences. I was a little nervous on the first day to see that everyone would arrive, people would get along with each other (as they were coming from different parts of India), and that communication would go smoothly. While we definitely dealt with a few disappointments and had to be a bit flexible with our plans, we were very happy with how things turned out.
Before I launch in, I’m sorry this post is a bit lengthy. But recapping one of the biggest parts of this stage of my trip took a few more words and a bit more space to process. Thank you to everyone for following along on my journey!
I’d like to end with all the things that made me excited by the training experience, so I’ll start with the hurdles. The first difficulty we faced was that the team we had originally planned to train to stay at Gandhigram and make filters long term, drifted out of communication and ultimately dropped off completely. This was disappointing as it affects the longevity of our work here, but we are now pursuing different avenues to set up a supply of filters and trainings locally. Following up with these future plans will by my focus for the rest of my time here.
The next problem was in finalizing the participants. Almost a month ago, I made an electronic flyer that clearly explained all the details of the training, including fees and basic syllabus material. This flyer was distributed to everyone who is involved in Gandhigram or Amma’s family and peace-working past. Many people claimed to be ready to send trainees. Yet somehow, a different flyer managed to circulate among some of the local organizations. This different flyer was an abridged version of mine, it didn’t say anything about a training fee, and left out the dates of the training too. To this day, I’m not clear where this flyer came from. Regardless, it led to many difficult, last-minute conversations, and ended with an organization that was supposed to send 10 people sending none at all. When I met with this organization, they seemed upset that they hadn’t known about all the details, yet I had spoken with a district leader from this very group who had known everything many weeks prior. I learned through all this how important face-to-face communication is, but it was frustrating to hear people upset about a lack of information and notice, when I thought I had been so proactive.
Finally, the frustration we faced during the training was with poor-quality filter molds. The steel molds were made at a vocational training school, but it seems like the molds were not checked for correctness. One mold that arrived was completely unusable. The rest needed hours of filing and grinding. Luckily, as I’ll say more about later, our new welding friend helped us. But the quality of the molds did impact our participants’ experience during the training. One filter simply couldn’t be removed from the mold because of the rough welds. This filter had to be smashed to bits and it was definitely upsetting for the team who worked on it. Several others required tremendous effort to demold. On the bright side, we could strongly impress upon them the value of the properly constructed molds and materials for filter success.
Ok, and now to some of my favorite moments over the past few days. Firstly, it was great to see people coming from diverse cultural backgrounds within India and learning together. We all discussed common interests in rural empowerment and other sustainability practices, including rainwater harvesting and permaculture. While our participants came from different places, it turned out that several had ancestors in each other’s home state. I loved seeing people’s eyes light up as their new friends attempted to say a few words in the different mother-tongues represented. They shared stories, culture, and food customs as they learned about different parts of India and confirmed/denied myths they had believed. Several participants were fascinated by the Gandhian history of this place and eagerly sought out stories of the great visionaries from Gandhigram’s past. I wasn’t sure how much people would take the time to appreciate this historic value, so I’m glad many came away with much more than just what we shared.
Our full group consisted of a team of ministers from Andhra Pradesh, a pair of NGO workers from Maharashtra, and a group of architecture students from Tamil Nadu. Twenty-one people in all. The Andhra Pradesh team had been in communication with us from a long time back, so we knew they were invested. Still, when we ran business trainings, it was great to see how seriously they were moving forward with their plans. They are trying to pour their first filter on October 2, in honor of Gandhi’s birthday. The Maharashtra team surprised us tremendously with their commitment. I ran into one of their partners at an event a few weeks back and he had been fascinated by this training. He thought his Maharashtra connections should definitely attend. The water problem is bad everywhere, but it is terrible in Maharashtra. I wasn’t convinced anything immediate would come from his excitement, as people seem to speak bigger than they act, but I stayed in contact with him. Amazingly, after traveling for two continuous days, two guys arrived at Gandhigram, right on time and ready to start. By the end, we had worked out contracts with them to get molds, starter tools, and materials, and they shared their plans to start training and building filters right away. Finally, the architecture students impressed us by suggesting ways they could integrate this simple filtration technology into their future homes. They are working under the guidance of an architect who specializes in alternative, sustainable, and affordable architecture. They didn’t leave with a business plan, but they plan to spread the word about this technology by setting up a model in their office and teaching people of its benefits. It was also fun to discuss alternative mold designs as they troubleshooted when their (poorly constructed) molds were problematic.
One highlight was the visit of a past trainee, Ramaswamy. He had attended a Friendly Water training in Bangalore two years back and has conducted dozens of trainings with his NGO since then. His NGO sells filters and is currently expanding their business plan. Researchers have done long ecological studies on the water from his filters. He told our trainees about integrating micro-credit systems when selling to low income families. He instructed them to reach out to universities for testing and licensing, if accreditation becomes important. He cleared any remaining doubts and assured everyone that the BioSand filter was remarkable. And without prompting him, he backed up many of the points and lessons we had been teaching. His first-hand experience was invaluable to our participants, and we appreciated learning about his progress ever since he joined the Friendly Water community.
Lastly, our new welding friend expressed a desire to fix our less-than-perfect molds as well as build new ones at a better price. Our participants even got to pour a round of filters on this new mold and we were thrilled by the results! The new mold produced near perfect filters and demolding took a fraction of the effort. His workshop is nearby and he will surely play a large role in supplying molds to future trainees and BioSand filter makers across India. Our growing partnership has so much potential.
Overall, we were shocked by how quickly the participants seemed to grasp the details of the filter, even though English might not have been the most comfortable for several students. We ended the fifth day with a graduation ceremony, complete with a special guest to conduct the ceremonies. It’s certainly exhausting to be teaching and running around all day, but it was a rewarding experience to share something with so much potential to improve lives and to see others equally excited to learn and spread this knowledge on their own.
The top image is an upsidedown BioSand filter, setting in its mold after being poured. The first row of photos below, from left to right, shows our participants preparing molds, sifting sand/gravel, and removing a filter from the mold. The next row of two photos shows our two female architecture students diving into the hands on work, and the busted filter in a heap from the troublesome mold. The solo photo shows the center core of the mold being removed by one team. In the last two photos, the left one shows our guest, Ramaswamy, and the right shows a few of the participants after graduation.
