On the Twelfth Day in Kuttanad

As I start my first blog entry on the Rainwater for Humanity site, one thought comes to mind: I should have blogged way before this. Not just blogged in general, but specifically, I should have blogged about this trip. For the past twelve days, Becca and I have been staying at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam to meet the Indian staff, visit the village of Achinakom, and basically coordinate plans for the upcoming semester. We have finally gotten around to writing our first blog post, which means that I am stuck looking at twelve days full of trying new foods, conversations with many people that basically consisted of pantomimes (Malayalam, from what I have gathered, is a very complicated language that I have no chance of learning in three weeks), and serious discussions about the future of Rainwater for Humanity. Now I have to consolidate all of that into a single blog post. Here is a list of things I have done that have nothing to do with Rainwater for Humanity, but which have greatly affected my experience here:

• I killed three spiders, one with a power converter, one with my shoe, and one with a bottle of bug spray. A word to the wise: if you are going to kill a spider, use something heavy, i.e. a shoe.
  

  Not one of the ones in our room, but you get the idea

  Do not use a bottle of bug spray. I did not relish killing three spiders, but they were quite large and in our room. Fortunately, Becca and I had extra mosquito net and used it to cover our window, so both the spiders and I have been spared further interactions.

• I have driven on Indian roads. Not personally, but I have sat in a car that was in motion on a road that was in India. Driving in India is basically a video game, except it’s not a video and it’s not a game. There are no traffic lanes, no traffic lights, and if I thought jaywalking was bad in Providence, it’s nothing to what goes on here. I have so much respect for people who drive in India because I think I would have a heart attack just turning the keys in the ignition.
• There are power outages fairly frequently here. Most only last a minute or so, and you get used to them. The first one I experienced happened in the middle of the night. It was dark outside and I had been sitting at my computer for the past half hour or so. When the lights went off, my first response was to wave my arms around to activate the motion sensors that are present in so many rooms at Brown. Surprisingly enough, that wasn’t the reason the room was suddenly dark.

Of course, we have spent the majority of our time here on things that actually relate to Rainwater for Humanity. I don’t think I realized just how many people were involved in the Indian branch of Rainwater for Humanity. I had already met some of the staff via Skype, though it was great to meet them in person. But there was also an official Leadership Team and Executive Team set up along with a Village Committee and several MGU student volunteers. It’s so great to meet all these people who are so invested in Rainwater for Humanity. One of our concerns at Brown is that we can’t tell directly what sort of an impact we are making; it’s nice to know that there are people here on the ground who can observe and push forward Rainwater for Humanity’s progress. Everyone has been so welcoming too. Thankfully, everyone at MGU is at least proficient in English or else Becca and I would have been completely lost. But even in the village, those who speak English have been eager to talk to us, and those who don’t have been happy to listen to Becca and me butcher Malayalam in our attempts to speak to them. However, I can now say hello, ask people if they are hungry or if they have eaten, and say “Rainwater for Humanity” in Malayalam. So I have the really essential stuff down pat.

Becca and me standing next to the first prototype

We’ve visited Achinakom, the site of Rainwater for Humanity’s pilot program. Guess what: Our first prototype actually exists! We saw it ourselves in person and drank lemon juice made from the water that came out of the tank. Combined with the absolutely gorgeous scenery (No offense to Providence, but palm trees with actual leaves on them beat out a New England winter any day), the prototype made for a beautiful sight (Check out our Picasa page for photos!). On our first day Mrs. Jimmol, the Village Coordinator, invited us to watch her family’s temple festival, which featured amazing drumming and a march with candlees. We’ve also been discussing the second prototype.

Christina, Jaya, and Chinchu discuss the upcoming prototype

To go into detail about our plans for the second prototype would take another whole discussion, and I don’t want to make this blog entry go on for too long, so I will simply say that we have met the family and discussed basic plans for its construction. I’m really excited to see its progress and I would encourage everyone who is interested in the process to contact us (info@rainwaterforhumanity.org) to find out what they can do.  Stay tuned for further updates on Rainwater for Humanity! ~Carolyn