Only a little more than 2 weeks left - eek time has been flying by.

I'm at work right now, which has slowed down considerably this week. I am on the only computer that has internet in the office - a major treat to use - the only reason that I have access to it is because the rest of the office is busy giving a training session to all of the field associates. So this week, I have nothing to do. I still have to collect about 2 days worth of data in the field, but no one is available to take me and translate for me (ughh, it's so frustrating having to depend on translators). I had to work over the weekend because Sham, the GPS specialist from Anand - the main office, was here to work with me. Sham and I organized the layers of the map that I am producing and it looks really cool. We have separated the symbols for the wells, check dams, anicuts, etc, and then we have separate layers for the rivers, roads, protected areas, etc. It is interesting to see how the watershed in Rawachh works and why certain wells have succeeded and others haven't. I think that the final product will be a great help to the villagers.

Trekking Photo:

Me and My trekking buddies from Kelo-ki-Heri. The walking stick was a gift from my village guide in Kyara ka khet.

I went to the field almost everyday last week - trekking and collecting data. After work on Wednesday, Namrata invited us all over to a nice restaurant for a rain dance! She is friends with the owners of the restaurant and they organized this ridiculous event on the roof of the building. They set up hoses on the roof and had a DJ playing crazy Indian music. We were all dancing in a circle (Indian style, of course) getting soaked. A Indian TV News show came and interviewed us - we ended up on the nightly news. During the interview, Jon said "Upar kya hai?", which means "what's up" in Hindi, but it isn't slang here and literally means "what is up?". That part ended up on the news - hysterical! It was so much fun until night fell and we were freezing. They gave us chai to warm us up. I was so happy to see the other interns because I have been overwhelmed with work lately that I haven't able to see them that much.


And oh did that rain dance work! The monsoon hit hard the next couple of days. I was in the field with Sham on Thursday. We were trekking through Tegra village and our guide brought us on a "short-cut" back to the village over a mountain. We reached the peak of the mountain (almost 1000 m) when the rains started coming down. Within minutes, I was drenched completely - not even enough time to get my raincoat out. We had to climb down the mountain through the rain trying not to slip on the rocks - definitely an experience. Back at the village, FES organized a festival to celebrate the rains so there was lots of music, dancing, and eating. One of my co-workers, Leena, convinced/forced me to join in a dance and one of my other co-workers caught me "dancing" (more like me walking awkwardly in a circle with my arms up) on video and oh my god! did they looooooove that video in the office. For the next couple of days, they played that video over and over, usually around 5 times in a row, laughing hysterical. I have been teased relentlessly for the awkwardness. They still bring it up - sooooo embarassing.

Saturday night, we all went over to Namrata's house and Yeye made us some yummy chinese food. Sunday, Sham let me leave work early around 4 and I got my first couple of hours of free time in 2 weeks. I went to the local coffee shop (Cafe Coffee Day), sat on the couch, and read Atlas Shrugged - it was amazing! Some of the other interns came too and we went out to dinner at Lakeshore Hotel, which is right on the Lake Pichola. Monday, I was in the office with not much to do. After work, Namrata organized a dinner for us at Abne Dane, which is like a traditional touristy village with a zoo, camel rides, a magic show, a puppet show, dancing, etc. We watched some of the shows and then ate dinner on mats.

Tuesday, Udaipur had its annual festival celebrating greenery/the monsoon rains - so no work! It was my first day off in 2 weeks. I slept late and my family took me saree shopping in the morning. We went to 3 different saree places. Here's the way it works: You sit in front of a platform area and the workers show different sarees to you by throwing them in the air to capture the movement and light. It was a beautiful experience, but I felt so bad for the workers that had to refold the huge piles of sarees that accumulated. My host mom and sister explained the different types of sarees to me - what's worn when, what season, what occasion, which materials are more expensive, etc, etc. I really enjoyed myself and ended up buying a beautiful purple saree - similar to the one that my host sister let me borrow - only it has a gorgeous silver pattern woven along the edges.

In terms of the festival, it's the one day of the year that villagers come to the city and it was mania. There were people everywhere! It was a massive carnival along Lake Fateh Sagar. Just imagine being surrounded by thousands of people all making tons of noise blowing into horns - that's what I remember. I went with a group of the interns and we rode the Viking Ship Ride (not at all safe - it looked like it was about to fall apart, plus there were no safety belts/bars), bought some crazy hats with whistles, and walked through the whole event. So, of course, we got stared at a ton - different groups of Indian boys would periodically follow us around blowing horns at us, yelling, singing, etc, etc. It got old after a while and we were all pooped by the time we finished the lake. One good thing that came out of the festival is that a picture of Jon, Ryan, and Michael made it onto the front page of the Rajasthani newspaper. So with the news show and the paper picture, we have turned into mini celebrities!

That night, my supervisor from FES, Mitul, invited Jon and me over for dinner at house. We went over and chilled with a small group of his friends. Mitul is obsessed with Che so there were pictures of Che all over his wall. We sat on the floor talking and drinking listening to Bob Marley, John Lennon, Tracy Chapman and all sorts of other mellow music. We played some cards and talked, but I felt like we should have been discussing serious philosophical topics and revolutionary ideas - it would have fit the mood much better.

Last night, it was Data's birthday (my host grandfather) so Shweta, my host sister, and I baked a cake. The family had a couple of friends over to celebrate and we ate the most delicous food - chili paneer and chicken masala (my first non-veg experience with the family). Now, my host sister wants to teach me how to cook more Indian food and she wants me to teach her how to make pasta and cookies. My family is absolutely amazing and already telling me how much they are going to miss me. On a side note, whenever I get back from the field at night with my walking stick, my host father says "Welcome home, Ghandiji" - which I find hysterical.

I have to go to a meeting now. Please write me more!!! I would appreciate more emails!

Trek, Trek and Trek some more - that summarizes the gist of my last week.

I just got home from the field and I am exhausted. I have started both of my projects. I found out that my RWHS grant is going to be funded by FSD, which is awesome. Plus I am working on my GPS project, which has been exhausting. My project is to map an entire Panchayat (which is 3 villages) taking data points on water resources and then write a final report on the natural resources and recommend development planning. The maps that I produce will go right to the villagers.

Last week, I spent Wednesday through Friday in the field collecting data. All I do all day is trek - it is a pretty sweet job - beautiful scenery, interesing people, and exercise (gotta burn off the gy). I go with at least one other FES worker and one villager around the village stopping at water resources (such as hand pumps, wells, check dams, anicuts, etc) and take the GPS point as well as some notes on the site. I've covered 5 villages so far: Kharaka Khet, Kelo ki Seri, Karaka Khouna, Rawachh, and Velaka Khet. Wednesday was the hardest day - 7 hours of trekking over hills and through a forest. On field days, I get picked up around 8 (very early for India), drive 2 hours to the village (stopping for chai along the way, of course), trek all day, and then drive 2 hours home - it is exhausting. I usually get home, eat with my family, and pass out. Three days in a row was pretty tough, especially with no weekend. I went again today and the language barrier is pretty frustrating. I have one FES person with me to translate, but somethings get lost and I hate having to depend on my FES person to talk for me. As of now, I am commuting to the village everyday (exhausting!), but I hope in the near future to stay in the village to save time. I have about a week's worth of work left in terms of trekking.

On Sunday, I went with my supervisor to scout out the site for the RWHS - Boo for not having a weekend. We drove 3 hours to Jhardol and then had to hike 2 km up a hill to the village. Some changes had to be made to my original plan because the villagers were uncomfortable with putting pipes on private homes - they thought that it might cause conflict over ownership of the water. Instead, the villagers wanted to use the school for the site because it is common property and that way no one villager can claim rights over the RWHS. The villagers agreed to contribute 6 labor days from each household for the digging and masonry work - all of that adds up to over $500 worth of labor - so that was pretty cool. They seem very excited about the project and described their past problems with water and how the stream dries up in the summer. The villagers started digging today and I'm very excited that the project is under way. The one unfortunate bit of news is that the school is not yet finished and won't be finished until the monsoon season ends. Therefore, I won't get to see the final RWHS. By the time I leave, the tank will be completed, the filters made, the pipes assembled, and the materials delivered to the village. I was pretty disappointed when I found out about that - but at least it is going to get built. The villagers are excited about the project and had a little celebration with coconuts over the tank site before they started digging.

So, that's the deal with work. Hopefully, that made sense, but I am not sure how well I explained the two projects.

Today, I was in the field doing GPS stuff. Yesterday I was in the office - FES brought in an expert on RWHS to help out with my project. He accompanied us to the field on Sunday and I ended up talking to him for over an hour yesterday on water issues in India - very interesting! He told me that agriculture is never taxed - this means that none of the villagers pay taxes to the government, which explains why the government does not provide for them. Around 70-80% of India's population is rural, but less than 10% of government funds goes towards rural means. A huge percentage of villagers don't have water acessible and Mr. Pandey (the RWHS guy) doesn't think that India will get clean water for a loooooong time, if ever. The groundwater table has decreased 10m in the last 30 years - obviously making it even more difficult to get water in the wells in the villagers. He also described all of the health problems resulting from the water. The water in Rajasthan has about 30 times the amount of Flouride in it than is recommended by the WHO (hence the white solids that settle after my family boils my water). The flouride causes teeth and skeletal deteroriation. Water in other areas of India is infected by arsenic and chloride. Mr. Pandey fully believes that the next world war will be over water. I really want to learn more about water conservation - possibly a new career path, we'll see..............

In other news, I have tried uploading pictures to this site numerous times and it hasn't worked so I am be giving on it. If you can access facebook, I put up pictures on that.

I'll try to write more soon, but work is consuming my life. I'll be home in less than a month - eeek!

I wore a saree! Yesterday, Namrata organized a surprise party for Yeye's birthday and the theme was traditional Indian wear with prizes for the best dressed. Before going to the party, I asked my host mom and sister if I could borrow a saree, and I told them about the prize - they became determined that I should win the prize and spent over an hour getting me ready! It was amazing! I wore a gorgeous purple saree (which is just the scarf) over a purple pettycoat and top. My host mom sewed the top so that it would fit me better. They wrapped the saree over the pettycoat - tucking in the material all along the waist - then pleated the material so that it falls beautifully in front. The rest of the material is pinned over the shoulder. Then my host sister adorned me in matching bangles, earrings and a necklace. They even told me how I should wear my make-up, gave me matching lipstick, and brushed my hair (something that I have been avoiding because of the humidity). It was quite a process, but they were absolutely determined that I had to win the prize! My host family was very impressed with the results. My host father told me that I looked Indian and from now on he is talking to me only in Hindi. This was the result of an hour of labor:



I brought a saree for Yeye to wear because the party was a surprise for her and here's us:


And now the group shot:



The whole night was amazing - I felt like royalty weating the saree and walked tall the whole night. Namrata made the most delicious food for us (she runs a catering business) - plus 2 glorious chocolate cakes. Payal, our other program coordinator, sang traditional Indian songs for us and Shivanji, Namrata's daughter, danced traditional dances for us. Oh, and I did win the prize for best dressed so as soon as I got home I proudly showed my prize Ganesh statue to my host family.

Tomorrow, I'm going into the field for 4 days. I'm really excited but it's going to be tough - lots of walking, no electricity, no clean water (going to bring about 8L for 4 days).

Last weekend was an intense travel weekend - 4 cities, 3 days, 20 hours of driving. We left on Friday morning for Kumbalgar to see an old fort, moved on to Ranakpur for beautiful Jain temples, then Jodhpur another fort, and last Jaisalmer for a sunrise camal ride through the Thar Desert. I'll write more soon with pictures - I have to go home for dinner now.

PS A picture of me made it onto Olen's Blog so check it out. See Links to the right ------------------------->

Well, it's Thursday night and I'm beat. Tomorrow morning, we are leaving for a 3-day trip sponsored by FSD. We're going to Ranakpur, Kumbalgar, and Jodhpur - so we get to take off 2 days of work (lucky us!)

This week, all of the interns were working on their grant proposals, which were due today. I posted mine below, but it's copied and pasted so the format is weird. I lost some of the tables for the budget - I'm asking for $591 to build a rainwater harvesting system. It's a cool project - the proposal is 7 pgs long so don't feel obligated to read the whole thing. I wanted to show all of you so that you can see that I AM actually working over here.....ahem....ahem.....mom and dad.......not just taking a long vacation.

Now, I have to start thinking about my second project with my NGO on the GPS maps. I have to write a shorter proposal for them due Monday and then I will be going into the field on Tuesday and Wednesday. India is broken up into 7 states (i.e. Rajasthan) and then within that districts (Udaipur), then Panchayats (Rawachh) and then villages. So I will be mapping 2 Pachayats.

I went into the field for the first time last Friday and it was absolutely amazing. I got to work at 8am (very early for India!) and packed into a Jeep with 7 of my co-workers. It was an 1.5 drive to the village (of course, we stopped for chai along the way). The drive to the village was beautiful - we drove through the Aravalli Hills, which is the oldest mountain range in the world. [India is building a four-lane highway to Udaipur and blasting through the Aravallis, which my co-workers are not so happy about.] Once we arrived in the village, I walked around with 2 other workers marking locations with the GPS. We toured around by the villager leader. This woman:

who is around 20 years old, has been married for 5 years and has 2 kids. So obviously I got the ever-so-common "are you married?" question. When she asked where I was from, I tried to explain to her that I came from the other side of the world. My co-worker told her that I traveled 2 days on a plane to get here and she was very impressed (especially considering that she has only left the villages 2 times in her life to go to the city). I got stared at quite a bit in the village and had a small following by the end of the day:

School hasn't started out so the kids were running around the village. It was crazy seeing a 5-year old girl taking care of her baby sister or 4 year-olds working in the fields with their mothers. We trekked around for about 5 hours and got very lucky with the weather - the whole morning was overcast and cool and it wasn't until the afternoon that the sun came out and it got hot. I brought along 4 L of water, which I had to carry the whole day, and all my coworkers laughed at me - but there was noooooo way I was going to drink the village water. I would never drink it anyway, but I also learned from one of the interns that did drink the village water and WOW did he get sick. After trekking, we watched an installation of a Biogas stove by one of the FES workers. The biogas stove runs on methane produced from the combination of cow dung and water and heated by sunlight. The processed dung can be used on fields as fertilizer and it's better than regular dung. As soon as the biogas stove was installed, the first thing that the new owner did was put on the milk pot for chai. He offered the lot of us that were there (hospitality in India is huge - there is a saying here "Guests are Gods" - so anytime I am invited to someone's house I am treated like royalty). The ride home was fun - listened to Indian music the whole way (and of course stopped for chai).

After work on Saturday, our program coordinator, Namrata (who's become our group's mom and we all adore her), took some of the girls bangle shopping. The bangles were already cheap, but there was a sale going on also because a new shipment was coming in. The bangles ended up being about 10-15 rupees/set (~20-30 cents) - and these were nice bangles - handcrafted glass. So obviously I bought 300 rupees worth of bangles. Yeye and I left there with 2 shopping bags each filled with bangles in an assortment of colors. I also bought some beautiful ankle bracelets. My family finds it hysterical that I am wearing all of this Indian jewelry - they tell me that I am becoming Indian. My host mom finds it especially funny that the bangles are too big for me. Supposedly, you are suppose to squeeze your hand as tightly together as possible and fit the smallest size possible on it - uhhh...i'd rather just wear bigger bangles.

On the 4th of July, Namrata invited all of us (well....we kinda forced her to let us come) over to her house for fireworks and firecrackers. We spent the night shooting fireworks off of her roof. There was a wedding going on across town so they were also lighting fireworks and it turned out to be amazing night! Namrata let us sleep over so we stayed up late playing cards and watching the World Cup (Italy beat Germany - wasn't expecting that!) - it was a massive slumber party! Namrata promised to let us come back for another one soon. We all felt very proud to celebrate Independence Day over here - silly, I guess - but it was super fun.

Last night, one of the host families invited us to a wedding in Sector 14 (southern part of the city). So a bunch of us trekked down there to see the spectacle. It was amazing. It was the last day of the wedding ceremonies - so lots of food, chatting, and picture-taking. The event was in a park filled with hundreds of people. The women all dressed in the most beautiful, bright saris. The backdrop for the stage was a massive palace - qutie a scene. Once again, the group of us attracted a ton of attention. Everyone was staring/pointing/giggling at us. The groom even asked to take a picture with the girls in our group - haha! The bride and groom sat on the stage for over an hour letting people take pictures with them......obviously we didn't want to miss our chance to be in the wedding album so:

That was a fun night! There really isn't much to do at night in Udaipur - the city shuts down around 9pm. So we have to find ways to entertain ourselves. Some of the highlights of my eveings include going to a haveli (hotel) with the other interns and watching the sunset from the roof, hanging out at the other interns' houses to watch the World Cup, and spending time with my host family and, of course, their dogs.

Last night, my host mother and sister showed me all of their saris - chiffon, silk, cotton, etc. - and explained when to wear each one. My host sister showed me her bangle collection, which surpasses mine but not by much! Her's are a wee bit fancier with all of the gold and silver. My host mom told me that she is going to dress me in a sari so I can see how to wear it.

In other random news, the two most luxurious things here are listening to my iPod (ooooh American music - how I miss it) and........wearing socks. You never really appreciate the beauty of closed shoes until you come to India. The Monsoon rains have started so the streets flood everyday and all of the contents of the open sewers flow into the streets. Walking around in flipflops is the WORST feeling! I need to invest in some rain boots. The heat isn't so bad anymore, but the humidity is far worse. And with the hot weather, the capris, pyjama pants, and skirts that we wear don't look right with closed shoes. At night when I walk home, sometimes, I see children going to the bathroom right in front of my house in the open sewers and then the next day I have to trek through the flood of nasty rainwater/sewage that sits in front of the gate - grossness.

Well, I'm off to bed. I'll have lots to write next time when we get back from our trip.

Nighty!

FSD Grant Proposal Application: 2006

July 3, 2006

Intern: Elizabeth Thys
University, Degree, Major: Tufts University, BS 2007, Civil Engineering
Host Organization: Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), Udaipur, India
Supervisor: Mitul Baruah

Project Title: Construction of a Rain Water Harvesting System (RWHS) in Magra Village, India
Issue Areas: Health and Livelihood Improvement, Drinking Water Accessibility.
Amount Requested: $591.31

Project Description:

1. Need: In the Magra village of Jhadol Tehsil (block) located within the Udaipur district, over one hundred villagers live without access to a steady water supply. The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) usually responds to this need by digging community wells, deepening existing wells and/or installing hand pumps. However, the village, located in the Aravalli Hills, lies on inaccessible, rocky terrain, which makes the installation of hand pumps and wells very expensive and, therefore, impossible. One well exists in the village that holds water for the villagers during the majority of the year. However, during the hot summer months the well dries up forcing the village women to either carry water everyday from seasonal streambeds located one kilometer down the hill or travel with donkeys to fetch the water – a gruelling and time-consuming process.

Unfortunately, during the summer, these streambeds can also dry up and villagers must resort to digging in the streambeds searching for water, sometimes to no avail. To alleviate this problem in the critical summer months, we are proposing to build a Rain Water Harvesting System (RWHS) within the village so that 150 people will have access to a 30,000L tank of rainwater. By installing the RWHS, the lives of the villagers will be greatly improved by easing the workload of the village women and improving the quality of drinking water for all of the villagers.

2. Purpose: To install a RWHS that would equip the villagers of Magra with a constant and clean water supply, thereby improving their health and livelihood.

3. Method: A RWHS uses a series of channels as catchment areas to direct water through a filter into a large, underground tank. The flow of water to the tank can be controlled through a valve so that it does not overflow during the monsoon season. The drinking water would be stored in the tank throughout the year. To complete this project, a large pit, big enough to hold a 30,000L tank, will be dug in the village. The tank will be located in a common area so that all of the villagers have access to it. Open-pipe channels will be installed on 20 houses in the village. These open-pipe channels will connect to closed pipes that will direct the rainwater to a filter and then finally to the underground tank for storage. Information sessions will be held with the villagers before the construction of the RWHS to describe the project, organize the required labor force, and get their feedback. After the construction is completed, FES, with the help of the local village institution, will organize another meeting to educate the villagers on maintenance techniques. The local village institution will be responsible for continuing education on the RWHS. FES successfully completed its first RWHS project this year on a school building in the Gogunda Panchayat. The methods for the Magra village RWHS will be similar to those used in Gogunda.

The project staff will include two field staff members from FES that are positioned in the Magra village area. These full-time staff members will help with all aspects of the project and serve as translators between the villagers and the intern. Since they are full-time staff members, no additional costs for consulting and translating will be necessary. FES will also provide a Senior Project Officer, Mr. L.S. Pandey, for the technical expertise. Mr. Pandey worked on the Gogunda RWHS project and is knowledgeable on the installation process.

4. Objectives: The main objective of this project is to build a RWHS in Magra village that will be used by the 150 villagers. The goal of this project is to create a sustainable water supply that is not only clean and safe, but also in close proximity to the village for use in the critical summer months. FES’s long-term goal for this project (depending on available funds) is to increase the tank size allowing water to also be used for irrigation during the critical months.

5. Target Population: The 150 villagers of Magra, located in Nichli Sigri panchayat, will directly benefit from the accessibility and quality of this stable water supply. The villagers are a tribal population living in extreme poverty and are in desperate need of a constant water supply. They requested a water supply system from FES, and the RWHS is the optimal solution under these circumstances. FES hopes to build more RWHS throughout India and this project will serve as an example for future villages. Therefore, this project has the potential to benefit villagers throughout India.

6. Expected Outcomes: Once the project is completed, the livelihoods of the villagers will be greatly improved. The two main goals of this project are to reduce the drudgery of the village women and to improve the health of the villagers. By installing a water supply in the village, the women will not have to make constant trips to the streambeds and they will have more free time for field work, child-raising, education, and livelihood improvement. In addition, the donkeys will be able to be employed for other transportation needs in the village, such as food and crop delivery. These actions will ease farm labor and increase productivity in the village. By having filtered water that is stored in a safe underground tank, the health of all of the villagers will improve. Rainwater is less likely to be contaminated than ground or surface water. The difference between streambed water and filtered rainwater is a vast one and the villagers’ health and hygiene will be drastically affected.

Budget:

All of the numbers for the budget came either directly from measurements taken in the Magra village or from the budget used in the previous RWHS project in Gogunda.

(Assuming that 45 rupees = 1 USD.)

Work Plan:

Table 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF ALL PARTIES

FES Responsibilities
(All actions will be assisted/organized by the intern.)
Plan and hold 2 village meetings before and after construction
Organize the labor activities
Verify site selection
Deliver materials to the village
Prepare the filter
Perform a final review of the pipes and test the system
Routinely check-in on the village RWHS (FES already visits the village twice per week for other reasons)

Magra Village Institution Responsibilities
Provide labor for the digging of the pit, the construction of the tank and the installation of the pipes
Collect the local stones for the tank support
Provide the necessary maintenance to the RWHS in terms of funding and labor
Continue to educate the villagers on how to use the RWHS
Ensure the sustainability of the project by establishing the necessary institutional mechanisms

Calendar of Events:
Week 1: July 17-22
· Plan and hold a village meeting to select the site for the tank, analyze the benefits of RWHS, and organize the labor details
· Verify the site selection and assess the work needed
· Start digging the pit for the tank
· Collect local stones to support the tank
· Deliver materials for the tank and pipes to the village
Week 2: July 24-29
· Begin construction of the tank
· Water the concrete and allow 2 days for hardening
Week 3: July 31-August 5
· Install the pipes on the outsides of the houses
· Prepare the filter
· Connect the filter to the pipes and the tank
· Install valves for operating the tank
· Perform a final review of the pipes and test the system
Week 4: August 7-12
· Allow for extra time in case construction gets delayed by monsoon rains
· Plan and hold a follow-up meeting with the villagers

Evaluation:

Table 4. Evaluation of Project

Result 1: Physical Activity of RWHS
QUESTIONS
A) Does the RWHS work?
B) Do the villagers use it?
INDICATORS
A) A test of the RWHS will be held in Week 3. Repairs will be made immediately if necessary.
B) A poll of the villagers will be taken during the second village meeting. We will work with the village institution to build awareness amongst the villagers on the project.
Result 2: Maintenance of the RWHS by the Villagers
QUESTION
A) Are the villagers able to maintain the RWHS in terms of yearly cleaning, joint maintenance and overflow adjustment?
INDICATOR
A) An education session on the RWHS will be held during the second village meeting. After that, the local village institution will be responsible for the maintenance of the RWHS
Result 3: Benefit to Villagers' Everyday Life
QUESTION
A) Has the installation of the RWHS reduced the hardship of the villagers and allowed for health, livelihood and economic improvement?
INDICATOR
A) Household-level surveys, seasonal charts, and FGIs (focused group interviews) will be acquired by the two field staff members twice a year. The data on health improvements will be obtained from the nearest PHS (Primary Health Centre).


Organizational Capacity:

The mission statement for FES is as follows:

Convinced that Ecological Security is the foundation of equitable and sustainable economic development, we:
Work towards the ecological restoration and conservation of land and water resources by conserving uplands and other eco-fragile, degraded and marginalized zones of the country;
Undertake any such work that is ecologically enlightened, sustainable, and socially and economically equitable;
Strive to ensure the ecological integrity of all such efforts by working with entire landscapes and interrelated communities on their land and aquatic resources;
Work for and promote stability of the ecosystems through protection and restoration of biological diversity;
Collaborate with Panchayati Raj and other democratic village institutions in their effort towards our objectives.

FES is a large organization working in seven states throughout India in a variety of agro-climatic zones. The focus of the organization is to address the problems manifested by the degradation of ecosystems, such as decreasing water tables, shrinking forest cover and increasing areas of land degradation, and its effect on the rural poor who depend on the natural surroundings for their existence. Focusing on some of their accomplishments last year in Udaipur alone, FES formed 24 village institutions to protect forest, revenue and grazing lands. They oversaw soil and moisture conservation activities on over 1000 hectares (1 hectare = 6 acres) of common lands. They constructed 15 biogas plants, from which the slurry is used as farm manure, to protect the forests. They set up 22 Vermicompost beds to help improve farm productivity and decrease dependence on inorganic fertilizers. They installed over 350 smokeless chulhas (burners) in eight villages. FES has the technological capacity to monitor the impact of its work on various ecological parameters through GIS (Geographic Information System) software.
Specifically relevant to this project, last year FES completed its first RWHS in a village in the Gogunda area. FES installed a rooftop RWHS on a school building to give the schoolchildren clean drinking water. The tank holds 30,000L of water and provides for 200 children. FES completed the construction of the RWHS successfully and the RWHS is in working condition now. However, since the completion was recent, FES has not been able to fully evaluate the long-term effects and sustainability of this project.

The FES office is committed to its organization's mission and has the full capacity to complete another successful RWHS project.


Intern Capacity:

Elizabeth Thys will oversee and participate in the preparation and construction of the RWHS in Magra. She has educated herself on RWHS and will assist in selecting the site, analyzing the benefits and organizing the labor. She has a strong civil engineering background and will be an asset to the construction activities.

Sustainability:

The installation of the RWHS in the Magra village will greatly help the villagers in the areas of health and livelihood improvement. Having clean drinking water accessible at all times is a basic human necessity and the installation of the RWHS will provide for this need. The RWHS will provide long lasting benefits for all of the villagers by giving them a steady water supply and making their lives easier. The RWHS is simple to maintain – yearly cleanings assisted by the pre-monsoon rains and simple mechanical repairs. The villagers will be contributing time and labor to the project, thereby, instilling a vested interest in maintaining the RWHS. FES has already contributed funds to this project and cares greatly about the success of this project. FES will monitor the success of this project after construction is finished, but the most important aspect of FES’s work toward ensuring sustainability is building and strengthening democratic village institutions. Therefore, it will be the responsibility of the local village institution to establish and monitor various rules and regulations at the community level taking over FES’s role in the village. These actions will ensure the sustainability of any project in the long run. FES plays a large role in the village and neighboring areas on forest-ecology and the RWHS will be complementing FES’s ongoing efforts towards ensuring sustainable ecologies and livelihoods in the area.

Group Shot at Monsoon Palace


Yeye and I at Saheliyan-ki-Bari

A picture of me at Monsoon Palace at the end of the first week

PS I fixed the settings of my blog so that now anyone can leave comments.....write me!

Enough with the Indian Food!!!!!

Ok, lots to tell about this week, but I first must vent my frustration about Indian food! I'm soooo sick of eating greasy, spicy indian food and it's only been 3 weeks!

Last weekend, I got sick for the first time off of spinach - very risky vegetable to eat - I'm deifnitely staying away from all leafy vegetables for the rest of my trip. And being sick was awful, but not being able to drink the tap water made the experience even worse. My family has been boiling water for me to drink, but the water here is much harder (filled with more metal) than in the states. When the water is boiled, the salts from the water settle to bottom and the taste of salt intoxicates the water - therefore, when I was sick and dehydrated, the only accessible water that I had was salt water - and that was awful! Luckily, one of my very nice friends brought me bottles of purified water in the middle of the night so I survived - very dramatic, indeed.

Since I was sick all of Sunday night, I was exhausted and ill Monday so I took off work to recuperate. The unfortunate thing about recovering from being sick is that "light" food does not exist in India. My family kept giving me curd to eat, which is sour and pretty gross, so I didn't eat much of it. Other light food from my family consisted of this nasty porridge type stuff. Needless to say, I wasn't eating much after I got sick, which made me feel very weak, tired and lightheaded for a couple of days. Finally, my stomach felt ok enough to go back to my chapti-and-subege routine (bread and vegetables), but everything in indian is SOAKED in butter (but not American-type butter, gy, which is non-pastuerized, super heavy butter), which sits on my stomach. Eating has been a big challenge and now I have resorted to living off fruit. I bought some bananas and crackers for lunch Saturday and on Saturday night a group of us went to the Trident Hilton (nicest hotel in Udaipur) for some non-Indian food. I got tomato and mozzarella and roast chicken for dinner - spent about 800 rupee = ~ $18 for the nicest meal that I've had yet. Amazing!

All in all, we are all sick of the food!!! Everyday I dream about cheeseburgers and walter's hot dogs. Ugh, what I wouldn't do for some beef!

If you want me to love you forever, SEND ME BEEF!

Ok, it's been a WHILE since I've written anything and a lot has happened so there is absolutely no way that I will be able to include everything. To start, I can't believe that we have been here for almost 3 weeks already! Everyone on the trip can't believe how fast time is flying by. We are all getting anxious that we have to leave in 6 weeks. We have planned trips for all of the weekends that we have left here and moaned about all of the stuff that we aren't going to be able to do. Ahhhhh not enough time in India!!!

Starting with work........I switched NGOs, which is awesome! My last NGO, CAPP, was not working out for me. After one week of work there, I am still not exactly sure what my supervisor does. A lot of sitting around talking on her cell phone, drinking chai, and chatting with the other people in the office that do nothing. Needless to say, it was not for me. On Saturday (my last day at CAPP), my supervisor, Mahua, brought me to some slums on the outskirts of the city and toured me around. It was an eye-opening experience and I feel very lucky to have seen the slums. Mahua wanted me to organize some women's empowerment sessions in the slum, which would have been stimulating work, but it's not exactly what I'm interested in. While I was there, I befriended some of the children, who were fascinated by me, and I think that I would have enjoyed working there. It was hard to tell my supervisor that I was leaving CAPP (especially after seeing the slum and the children), but I wouldn't have accomplished anything with CAPP in such a short time - the work pace is way too slow.

Last Wednesday, we all had a meeting to share work and family stories to each other and our coordinators. During the meeting, I became fascinated with what my friend, Jon, is working on. He's working for an NGO called FES, Foundation for Ecological Security, making biogas stoves. So, I realized immediately that I wanted to switch to his NGO - I talked to my coordinators and that's how the switch came about. Well, to keep it short, I started work on Tuesday with FES and I will be working on 2 projects. One is building Roof Water Harvesting Systems and the second is creating maps using GPS. I am THRILLED!!!! I love my new job - the people are amazing. My supervisor, Mitul, is quite a character - he invited Jon and I out to drink and watch the World Cup tomorrow night at his friend's hotel. Today was my first of 3 days on GPS training. Tomorrow I am going into the field with the GPS specialist. FES works with two main village areas. The one that I will be working in is called Gogunda. No maps of the water supplies exist in the villages so I will be mapping dug wells and bore wells using GPS and formatting it with GIS. This means that I will be walking around village areas in Indian all day so I will get the opportunity to see some of rural India and meet some villagers. Plus, supposedly Monsoon season is a great time to walk in the villages because the weather is cool and the scenery is beautiful. I'm thrilled about the NGO switch, but I'm annoyed that I lost a week with CAPP - really frustrated about my short time here - the amount that I will learn by being here is far superior to anything that I can give back.

Besides work, last week was great! For two mornings, Yeye and I walked up to Neemachmata Temple, which is about a 45-minute hike (one-way) up a mountain overlooking Fateh Sagar Lake. We met some interesting characters along the way - everyone is incredibly friendly. We met a girl the first morning and when we saw her again the next day, she told us how she had wished that we would come back so she could see us again and she was so happy that her wish came true . The morning is the only time to do any physical activity because by 8am the heat is unbearable. At the end of last week, it was over 110 degrees F for about 4 days - miserable! You can't think straight unless you are situated right under a fan. [Only 2 places near my house have A/C - one internet cafe and one coffee shop].

To keep things short:

Friday after work - Hindi Lesson. Unfortunately, my hindi has kinda hit a wall. I never get a chance to practice because everyone around me speaks great english. So the lesson felt a little useless.

Saturday after work (India has a 6-day work week) - our Hindi teacher took us to Haiti Pol (an area in the Old City) for some great shopping! It was pretty amusing watching her haggle with the store owners. Still can't get over how cheap everything here is, so I find it very amusing to watch people haggle over the equivalent of 25 cents.

I'm out of time and have to go home for dinner. Sunday - went to Chittorgarh, an old Fort - amazing! And unfortunately, my good luck with the food ran out and I got sick for the first time - absolutely miserable!

More later.

Namaste.

PS at the end of each post, you can leave me comments - click on the comments link - and they would be much appreciated :)