Rainwater for Humanity is seeking a team player with at least a B. Tech / B.E. Degree in Civil Engineering to  join us.

Rainwater for Humanity is a start-up community project in the Kuttanad region initiated by Mahatma Gandhi University School of Environmental Sciences in India and Brown University students and graduates in US. Rainwater for Humanity uses rainwater harvesting as an entry point to improve community health and empower women in the Kuttanad region of Kerala, India. Our vision is a low-cost rainwater harvesting system that will be affordable and functional in a low-lying wetland region like Kuttanad. We have started in the Achinakom Village. By designing a low cost rainwater harvesting system with financing options and involving women throughout, we will extend our operations to other villages in the future. Our local partners include Vechoor Panchayath and a 8,000-member-strong women’s self help group, Kottayam Jilla Mahila Thazhapaya Vikasana Federal Samithi (KJMTVFS). The project leaders include academia and experts from Mahatma Gandhi University, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), KJMTVFS and Brown University.

 

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design different prototypes of low cost rainwater harvesting system functional in a low-lying wetland region like Kuttanad, with the assistance from Brown University R&D team and engineering experts
• Render CAD drawings of the prototypes
• Conduct focus group meetings with local masons in Kuttanad
• Source materials by visiting factories or manufacturers
• Visit and identify appropriate locations for building prototypes
• Participate in the construction of the prototypes
• Assess and monitor the structural stability and durability of prototypes
• Proactively reach out to experts in the engineering field for feedback and guidance
• Communicate frequently, on average once per week with the Brown University R&D team via internet video conference call
• Report regularly, once per month, to the leadership team on the result, evaluation and ongoing progress of prototyping. This prototyping updates should be compiled with the Program Coordinator’s monthly report

 

REQUIREMENTS

• Persistence and passion in serving marginal communities
• Determined in achieving RW4H’s vision of providing clean drinking water through appropriate low cost design
• Entrepreneurial, ambitious, adaptive, systematic and results-oriented thinking
• Bachelor degree or higher in civil engineering. Masters or post-graduate degree preferred
• Proficiency in Malayalam and English
• A 2 months probation period
• Strong system diagram rendering skills, using software such as CAD
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills in accessing materials strength, water pressure and optimization of material usage
• Strong computer skills such as ability to conduct research online, use & communicate via emails, blogs and skype
• Comfort in motivating and working with villagers
• Knowledge in appropriate technology or water treatment a plus
• Experience in bottom-up projects in areas such as appropriate technologies implementation, women empowerment, community health, water and sanitation a plus

 

BENEFITS

• Competitive salary. Rs 15,000 per month, plus bonus. Salary negotiable depending on candidate’s experience
• Opportunity to build an innovative startup with the counsel and support of numerous leaders, academic experts and activists from India and the US
• Satisfaction from working in a team dedicated to provide a sustainable source of water and living to the Kuttanad communities and beyond

 

START DATE & LOCATION

The Engineer will begin work in December 2009. The location of work is in Kottayam, Kerala State of India. The project has a timeline of 1 to 2 year(s) at present.

 

HOW TO APPLY?

1. Send your resume/CV and a cover letter to info@rainwaterforhumanity.org at least 1 day before December 16
2. Attend the walk-in interview. Please bring the original and a copy of your degree certificate(s), academic transcript(s) and relevant award(s)

Date: December 16, 2009 (Wednesday)

Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon

Venue: School of Environmental Sciences, MG University

For enquiries, contact –9446058120 / 9447914132 / 9605442580

The system has been completed and the first drop of rainwater has trickled down the catchment area, sped along the gutter, squeezed through gravels sand and charcoal, rolled into the PVC pipe and entered the ferrocement tank.

The journey of this raindrop is made possible by the perspirations, brain juice and hard-earned income of people across the world. However, we are not in the position to celebrate yet. This is the beginning of trillions more of raindrops that need to be harvested.

With that note, the following tasks are yet to be accomplished in the coming 3 months-
Reiterations of rainwater harvesting prototypes
Hiring of a full time local Program Director
Building an organization structure to ensure accountability on the impacts we held ourselves against
Clarifying Rainwater’s visions and strategies
Aligning stakeholders’ values with Rainwater’s

There’s a saying “spectators can see the race clearly, but the athletes’ views are clouded.” We appreciate any thoughts especially on appropriate technology design, hydrology & engineering, and setting up the organization structure of a start-up social enterprise.

In terms of the construction update, the side wall has been erected. A coat of plaster has also been applied on the exterior surface. The remaining days will be used to apply the last layer of cement and plaster on the interior surface, install the gutters, put up the mild steel sheets and build the filter units. We also plan to trim the tree branches around the system to prevent leaf debris and birds droppings from accumulating on the system’s catchment area.

The Kottayam District of Kerala has recently banned sand mining. Therefore, it has been impossible to purchase river sand, one of the essential building materials, within the Kottayam District. The lack of materials has led to a few days of delay. Fortunately, there is some sand available from a neighboring construction site that we can use for now. The second challenge we face is installing a filter system which will function properly. According to literatures on slow sand filters, they are capable of filtering out 90-99% of bacteria. However, we found that fecal coliform is present in all rain water samples collected from Achinakom Village’s existing ferrocement tank. After discussing with Dr. Abhirosh, Sylas and Rahul, we think that there are 3 possible explanations- 1) the slow sand filter is functioning properly, however the catchment area is highly contaminated, hence even after filtering, fecal coliform is still present in the storage tank; 2) the filter is not functioning properly, this might be due to an insufficient retention time or the poor design/construction of the filter and; 3) the rainwater harvesting system is not maintained/cleaned properly by the users.

In order to shed light on why there is such a high fecal coliform level in the existing rainwater harvesting tank, we will build several slow sand filters in the MGU School of Environmental Sciences laboratory and test their filtering capabilities.

We had a second and third official MGU Rainwater for Humanity student team meetings on September 17 and September 22 respectively. Dr. Thomas clarified how such community work/service like RW4H are learning opportunities and how it fits with the academic program in the Department. Afterward, Sylas and I explained the 4 areas that the students can work on, namely Technical design, Women empowerment, Water quality and Communication. The students then freely joined whichever team that was interesting to them. Each team also nominated a coordinator to be the contact person. As most of the first-year Master students are unfamiliar with the Kuttanad region, we are planning a field-trip to the Achinakom Village and the surrounding area soon.

 

On a personal note, I managed to stop by a supermarket in the area a few days ago. There, I found “Red Delicious” apples! I am having a kanka mouth sore, most probably from consuming too much curry. Together with a bunch of tissue rolls (a luxury too, as each of them is equivalent to the price of a meal in a restaurant i.e. Rs 35 or USD 0.7), I left the supermarket with joy and much anticipation to sink my teeth in the apples.

The Achinakom Model

The past week of Onam holiday offered me a chance to step back and reflect on the project’s progress thus far. The day after Eli and Andrea left, I traveled to Haripad and met with one of our advisors, Dr. Anil Kumar from MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. I returned to MGU with a clearer idea of how the project could proceed. Dr. Kumar suggested convening a high level meeting with senior representatives from every involved partner and stakeholder namely MGU School of Environmental Sciences, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Women’s self-help group, Achinakom Local Committee, Vechoor Panchayath representative, and Brown team. The pilot model will take about 2 years to show its track record. Rainwater for Humanity is a collective effort, and thus the decisions should be made collectively as well. The meeting will lay out the roles and responsibilities that each party should take up. In addition, the meeting will set targets, milestones and timelines attached to each of them. The next step is then to derive strategies to achieve each of those targets or milestones.

The meeting will lay down the incremental steps needed from each partner during the next 2 years needed to achieve our vision, the Achinakom Model. Ideally, the meeting can happen at around the same time as the opening ceremony of the rainwater harvesting system in Achinakom.

The system tilts

On Sunday, Sylas, Dr. John and myself went to Achinakom to 1) check on the system and 2) conducted a meeting with the Achinakom Local Committee and the mason to determine the remaining construction schedule. Due to a number of unexpected technical difficulties, the total construction cost has exceeded the original estimation. The total cost of the system is now Rs 165,000, an increase of about 25% from the estimation. As a measure to cut costs from hiring labor, the beneficiaries have agreed to take turns to help with the construction. In return, we shall provide the participating beneficiaries a living stipend. The mason has also guaranteed to complete the system within the upcoming seven days.

The tilting of the system has increased significantly compared to last week. On the western end, the system’s shell has detached from the canal wall and is uplifted to about 10 cm above ground. (See video) The mason explained that the uplifting are due to 1) the higher water pressure from the western end closer to the canals and 2) a heavier weight in the eastern end as more cement has been applied there. In order to ascertain the structure’s integrity, we went to speak with Dr. George Abe (an engineer and scientist of the CWRDM Kottayam sub-center) on Tuesday. He confirmed that the system shall sit once it is filled with water. The structural integrity of the system is still sound, since no crack develops though the system is uplifted by water. We also discussed several versions of the second generation prototypes with him. Mainly, we have been brainstorming several designs with different combinations of 1) using clay or jute bags filled with sand as cushion, 2) precast concrete rings or rubber tires as skeleton, and 3) silpaulin as the water proof membrane.

Dr. Abe suggested looking into a type of grass called Vetiver, locally known as Raamacham. It is commonly used for soil stabilization, water conservation and water treatment. Vetiver is non-invasive and can grow in extreme conditions; it has deep roots and can be used for handicrafts making or perfume production, making vetiver an appealing candidate to preventing surface water run-off.  See overview slideshow or learn more at Vetiver Organization.  

In addition, he highlighted that the transportation cost of bulky materials might outweigh the economic benefits of their cheap prices. He mentioned a NGO operating in the area known as Anthyodhaya which sells ready-made 5,000L capacity above-ground ferrocement tanks. We should compare the costs and make sure that the new design is more cost effective.

The next steps

The pursuit to design an affordable and durable rainwater harvesting system in the Kuttanad wetland area continues to be challenging and exciting. We shall learn and incorporate local technologies along the way. The immediate next step is to start conducting small-scale components mock-ups. We are building the MGU R4H team too. Sylas and myself have been brainstorming what the format of the first meeting should be, the type of materials to include and the type of activities that will create self-motivation. Any suggestions out there?

How are the Brown R4H team members doing? All the best with the semester ahead! 

Apologies for the long delay; we have been frantically engaged in last tasks before Andrea and Eli leave on the 31st.

With the approval of Dr. Ramasamy and Dr. Thomas, we were able to hold a Rainwater for Humanity information session for interested MGU SES students. About 30 people showed up (unfortunately a lot of the first-year M.Sc. students were off campus at a meeting) and sat through our presentation (available here) and discussion session. Despite the students’ English proficiency, it is hard to successfully conduct a presentation without resorting to Malayalam. Differences in accent and diction mean that information is not always communicated effectively, and forcing people to use a language they are not entirely comfortable with makes them far more reticent to candidly ask questions and start a conversation, especially in a formal academic context. Luckily for us, Sylas went over some of our information in a clearer manner, and fielded questions from the audience in Malayalam. Dr. Thomas also said a few motivational words, hopefully highlighting to the students the important elements of social entrepreneurship and optimistic, perhaps lofty, student leadership.

We got back about 10 informational slips and several other students expressed interest, so we now have to figure out how to begin to engage them in the project. This will have to be a gradual process, but the upcoming impact baseline survey we will be administering to the system users in Achinakom will be a good opportunity for them to get involved. We hope to have a stable group of committed students here to work with Christina and Sylas in parallel with our Providence team, keeping in touch with email and conference calls throughout the year.

The University (along with the entire rest of Kerala) is closed next week for Onam festival holidays, so festivities were held here on the 25-26. We participated in a bunch of the traditional activities and managed to get pretty much no project work done. Environmental Sciences fared very well in the inter-departmental competitions, winning both pookkalam-making and a surprisingly enthusiastically-waged men’s tug-of-war. The next day saw a variety of party games in the department, as well as a traditional Onam banana leaf feast.

We can at least rest assured that our time spent informally with the students and faculty here have helped ingratiate ourselves into the department, building the local network necessary to keep this project going. Despite the frequent tea breaks, the students here are quite serious and dedicated, and their expertise in environmental systems, water quality and safety, and GIS is very valuable to incorporate into the project work.

Our week so far had been productive but had included a lot of traveling—we hadn’t been at MGU for enough hours to finish conducting our analysis of the water samples. Hence, Tuesday evening, we started our work in the SES microbiology lab and prepared mediums to repeat the E. coli tests with diluted samples to get a more precise count of the bacteria. Once the test tubes went into the incubator, we headed to bed for much-deserved rest.

Wednesday morning, we prepared the other tests of our analysis. We started with the simpler tests and determined the pH of each sample, as well as the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). Then, we measured out our samples in beakers, boiled water, and added drops of indicators and chemicals to test tubes, following the procedures to measure the phosphate, nitrate, and iron content of each sample. Each step of the way, we had an MGU student helping us and showing us around the labs; thank you, Daniyal! Our analysis stretched into the evening, when we received good news from Sylas: the groundwater had stopped seeping into the canal, and the first layers of concrete were officially setting! Construction would continue Thursday with the placement of the RCC (reinforced cement concrete) layer. Concrete would be laid on a frame, built of chicken mesh and a rebar grid, made against the floor and walls of tank. Our water sampling analysis would therefore be put on hold and would continue Friday morning—we unfortunately couldn’t finish because of the necessary waiting time in some of the procedures.   

In the morning, we set off for Achinakom in a van—enough room for about 10 MGU SES students that came along with us. Our efforts to recruit local students last week were successful and ten men had enthusiastically volunteered to assist the mason, workers, villagers, and three of us during construction on Thursday. (On a side-note, we plan to have an orientation meeting for everybody else that didn’t get a chance to go on Thursday next week and will hopefully attract an even larger crowd.) We inspected the canal upon arriving and the concrete had indeed dried; workers had already laid the chicken mesh along the walls and were starting to bind together the rebar grid on the floor of the tank and the surrounding walls. A couple of us jumped into the tank and started twisting the wires and completing the grid.Taking turns, we squatted on the muddy floor, hunched over the crisscrossing rebar while nimbly trying to twist the tie wire. 

In the afternoon, a few men started mixing the mortar while all the students and village women lined up in an assembly line to transport the mortar from the front of the house, where the materials were originally delivered, along the narrow pathway that leads to the canal. The mortar was placed onto metal basins and thrown or handed down the line to the masons at the end, who proceeded to lay the mortar on the floor of the tank. Moving so much heavy material was a tedious task, but wheelbarrows are hard to maneuver around the house to the canal and space to mix the mortar behind the house is also lacking. Furthermore, trying to coordinate a more efficient way is difficult with the language barrier. Nevertheless, everyone persevered and work didn’t cease even when the heavy rains started. More tarps were draped from the roof over the tank to protect the mortar and everyone else continued as they had been working.  

Patterns of division of gender in the work were similar as on the first day of construction—though they have expressed interest in learning masonry techniques, women mainly delegated themselves to helping move the materials, while masons and experienced men worked on mixing and laying the mortar. We will have to motivate and help the women gain confidence throughout the rest of the construction process, so they will feel comfortable on taking on the tasks usually done by men. The floor of the tank was completed by the late afternoon, and everyone, soaked to the bone, took a break to eat dinner prepared by the village women. We soon departed the village with the MGU students, traveling back to the SES on the same van; even though everybody was working hard all day, physical exhaustion wasn’t apparent on the bus. Malayalam songs were playing loudly while many students were singing and clapping along—a few even managed to start dancing in the aisle.

We have been plodding along with various tasks the past couple days, continuing our consultations with local experts, monitoring the prototype build, and testing water samples at MGU. It’s a little hard to believe our time here is over half over; there is still far too much to do as schedules fall by the wayside.

Sunday was spent here at the university, preparing the first round of Escherichia coliform (e. coli) tests, making arrangements for the next few days, and planning for the long term. Although there have been some delays with the prototype construction (as is expected when trying something new) we hope to see it completed next week.

We took a day trip to the nearby city of Alappuzha on Monday for a couple of meetings. Our first stop was at the medical hospital to meet with Dr. Padmakumar, an expert on monsoon and water-related diseases. Meeting in his office on the third floor of a towering hospital complex (we got plenty of stares walking through the wards), he outlined some of the environmental and social factors contributing to health problems in Kuttanad. There are a wide range of independent contributors to disease aside from basic surface water pollution (from agriculture, houseboat tourism, sewage/waste). Although Kerala has been much-heralded as a model for low-cost, community-driven health care, Dr. Padmakumar was cautionary about the current state of regional care. He said education is less pervasive than it once was, and people are not as focused on preventative care, instead resorting to emergency visits (a well-publicized failure in the American system as well). Among water-borne diseases, Hepatitis A and E, Weils disease (lactospirosis), typhoid, cholera, and amoebiosis are endemic in Kuttanad. His hospital is a “tertiary” center, one of a handful of top-tier hospitals in the state responsible for emergency care and complicated cases referred from primary health centers and district hospitals. While rainwater cannot solve all the problems with dirty and mismanaged water sources in the region, he said it is a definite improvement for individual and small-scale access.

We then visited Ms. Sudha Soni, a prominent social activist who was one of Christina’s original contacts for her research in Kerala. We updated her on our project work and discussed some of her recent activities. She has been involved in a number of community-driven environmental- and water-related projects, and had some valuable advice about management of a shared water system. Her current project is the development of a household-level sustainable foods initiative, encouraging families to grow their own produce for nutritional benefits and energy savings. It faces many of the same social entrepreneurship obstacles we are dealing with, in particular encouraging people to take up a high level of responsibility and administration of a system they are unfamiliar with.

On our way back from the city we stopped by Kainkary village, hoping to diversify our perspective beyond Achinakom. As evinced by Christina’s water testing last year, this area of southern Kuttanad has significantly worse health problems than the north, and it showed. It is downstream of a couple major rivers which bring waste and pollution from the highlands of Kerala to the ocean. Although the families we talked to were aware of the importance of boiling drinking water, they admitted not being entirely thorough in the process and oftentimes drew water from the adjacent canal (others used nearby wells or cleaner, albeit distant, rivers). There was evidence of a onetime-extant municipal water supply line in some areas, but they reported all nearby taps were rarely supplied. As has been the case throughout, once we (Sylas) introduced ourselves, everyone was very outgoing and friendly. This ease of access is extremely important in order to build connections in other villages for purposes of project expansion.

Our coliform test results were unfortunately unsurprising, all sources measuring over 1100 (max. count per liter water). We will have to repeat the experiments with diluted samples to establish upper bounds for the counts. While boiling for a couple minutes will kill all these organisms, it is a bit jarring to see such results from people’s (inclusive of us, on occasion) drinking water. They also might be indications of other, more impervious, contaminates.

We visited Achinakom Tuesday morning to see the progress of the latest water-elimination plan. To reduce (eliminate!) the water permeating the prototype walls, preventing the foundational concrete from setting, they plan to segment off and pump out the two adjacent canals. This seems slightly over the line to overkill, but we are assured it is “no problem,” and the cost is nominal. In the meantime, the continuing layers of concrete being applied to the walls have entirely failed to harden in place and stop the leakage, so it is clear something must be done.

Back at the SES, we attended a “Fresher” (first-year Masters students) welcoming event. It started off with introductions as awkward as would be expected from such a thing, ranging from pure terror (some of the women) to over compensatory bravado (some of the guys). We got a brief shoutout from Dr. Thomas’ introduction (he and Dr. Ramasamy attend all departmental functions), which was just about the last English we heard for the following two hours. (Here follows speculation on the content of Malayalam heard:) It was at the very least reassuring (heartening?) to see the older students having so much fun calling up questions and mild insults (?) at the assembled newcomers, a reminder that the social order, at least among youth, is much the same across the world.

We had a day of relaxation on Wednesday sight-seeing with the Bulls, but Thursday, once they left MGU, we went straight back to work. We churned out another version of the questionnaire, updating it based on our first three interviews and feedback from the Bulls, Sylas, and our peers at Brown. Before continuing with our survey, we want to make sure we are asking thorough questions in a clear and concise manner and getting all the information we’ll need in the future to track our impact and strengthen our efforts to expand. With this goal in mind, on Friday, we talked to Professor Sukumana at MGU’s Department of Behavioral Sciences. He encouraged us to include scaled questions about the villagers’ quality of life in an effort to get more continuous and in-depth data. After hearing his advice, we trooped back to our office in SES and, with the help of Sylas, revised the survey one more time.

We woke up early Saturday morning to attend the flag-raising ceremony in honor of Indian Independence Day; the vice-chancellor, along with MGU’s guards, raised the flag as the Indian national anthem played. Afterwards, the guards helped serve breakfast: dosa, chicken curry, a sweet dessert, and milky chai.

Our plan for the afternoon was to go to Achinakom to collect water samples around the village from sources that people used for bathing, washing eating vessels, drinking, and cooking. We therefore spent most of the morning in the Environmental Microbiology lab with one of the PhD. students, preparing test tubes for E. Coli testing and sterilizing containers. On our way to Achinakom, we stopped to talk to a water truck vendor, hoping to get a sample of his water to test. However, water trucks only provide to villagers in the dry season and currently sell water to the large hotels in the area, so we couldn’t attain a sample. We did learn that they purchase their water from a well in Kottayam.

Upon arriving in Achinakom, we stopped by the construction site to monitor the progress that has been made. Construction has been delayed due to the amount of water that has been seeping into the tank, which is preventing the concrete from setting properly; the heavy rainfall the area received Friday night aggravated the situation. The mason and his workers have tried plastering and adding an extra layer of cement in the spots through which water is entering to no avail. The next solution they will attempt is draining the two neighboring canals in an effort to slow the seepage enough for the concrete to harden and the reinforced concrete to be layered on top. Hopefully, when we come back to the site on Tuesday, we will join the workers and villagers in applying the RCC.

We then walked through the village, moving westward, collecting water samples; gathering the samples was informative, as we saw firsthand the various water sources and how hygiene was being upheld or compromised on both a community and individual level. For example, we saw some outhouses built directly next to canals, which are used primarily for washing and bathing. 

We also noted the different levels of caution and cleanliness with which people treated their water. All three permanent rainwater harvesting systems we got water from were above-ground tanks subsidized by World Vision, a non-profit that had worked in the area, and were built approximately two years ago, but they were being maintained with ranging levels of diligence. The first one we stopped at had moss and mold growing on top of it and appeared to have tiny cracks; the catchment surface, the roof of the house, was dirty and also covered in moss. The tap was not that high off the ground, so only short basins could fit under it, and the surrounding area was not cleared away. Nevertheless, we were pleased to learn that that the family cleaned the tank annually and claimed to properly utilize the first flush system. The second system, shared by five families, appeared to be better maintained, and the third system featured a unique first flush and well-kept area for a bucket to be placed underneath the tap.

We also collected water from three temporary rainwater harvesting structures. All were built comparably with some kind of tarp affixed to posts at the corners so water would run off the tarp into a bucket, though they had slight differences (one family, for example, had weighted down the center of the edge of the tarp with a stick and bottle). The tarps had accumulated varying degrees of dirt and dust; one family had put a cloth over the bucket to filter out the debris. We will see how the samples vary in our laboratory analysis.

We obtained a sample from the village well, which is 20 feet deep and looked relatively clean and clear, especially compared to some of the wells we saw on the properties of individual households. We also got water from a well that is located in a canal and has a built-in filtration system using river sand. It filters groundwater that seeps in through the bottom and also stores rainwater.

Villagers use water from the aforementioned sources primary for drinking and cooking, but we also acquired water from a pond and a large canal. Four families use the small pond for bathing and washing eating vessels. Plants were growing in it and the water looked cloudy and mucky, which was, according to one family who uses it, due to Friday’s rainfall and a marked change from its usual, clear appearance. The people of the village use the canals solely for bathing purposes. Near our collection site in the canal, water used for irrigation of the rice paddies was being pumped into it. Eli while reaching to get a sample, fell into the waist-deep water. He climbed out, almost losing his flip-flops in the deep silt and voicing his desire to take a shower.

We returned to the guesthouse with our ten samples and plan to start our analysis in the morning. We stopped for dinner on the way; over the past two weeks, we have gradually been getting to know the names of everything that we’ve been eating. We no longer have to pester Sylas with questions about every item on the menu—only occasional ones.

Our past few days have been spent touring around Kuttanad with Profs. Chris and Marijoan Bull, who were staying with us at MGU, getting acquainted with the project. Mr. Bull is on the engineering faculty at Brown and has been a source of technical and administrative support for Rainwater for Humanity. They left with great fanfare this morning (for Mumbai, continuing a conference tour around India).

The SES was quite happy to have him here, (because of the typical level of faculty involvement in India’s educational system, it adds a degree of legitimacy for us as well) and invited him to give an informal talk on his work Tuesday morning. After discussing the challenges in bridging technical solutions to problems with practical social and political implementation, a couple students in attendance responded with impressively critical questions. They pointed out the vastly disproportionate energy and resource consumption of the United States and its hypocritical stance on combating global climate change. Although we hear such arguments put forth by developing countries in abstract terms during WTO and UN negotiations, it was much more striking to hear from local students.

We visited Achinakom again in the afternoon to check on the continuing concrete foundation work. Although most adult men are at their jobs, the villagers continue to perform the majority of the labor.

A couple locals showed Sylas and us around the farther reaches (a couple kilometers away) of the village. The western edges are more isolated than the area around the project site, being further from the paved road accessible only by dirt (often muddy) paths. There were several houses being built, and Sylas explained that the building materials (impossible to transport from the road) were instead delivered by boat along the extensive canal system. We discussed the drinking water situation with a few families in this area, one of which currently draws from a rainwater harvesting tank. It is a 10,000 liter aboveground ferrocement tank fed from roof runoff (the standard design), but is currently being shared between five households. At an absolute minimum drinking and cooking water use of 20 liters per day per family during the dry season, this is vastly insufficient for their needs. They also highlighted the pitfalls of a shared system, mentioning that they alone performed the majority of the maintenance (despite it not being located on their land). Hopefully this shirking of responsibility will be less of a problem for us, with more families to draw from and a more active stake in the system.

With the excuse of vacation time for the Bulls, we joined the Kuttanad backwater tourists for the bulk of Wednesday. After meeting with the university vice-chancellor (the head of the school; the “chancellor” is nominally the President of Kerala), we went on a boat tour of Vembanad lake and some of the surrounding canals. I understand entirely why this region of Kerala is such a popular tourist destination (both domestically and internationally). They tour around the canals and lakes on massive houseboats, taking in the scenery and peaceful atmosphere. Unfortunately, tourism creates substantial environmental and economic problems in the region. Waste from the boats is discharged directly into the lake, further disturbing ecosystems reeling from decades of manipulation and neglect, and those whose livelihoods are dependent on the resources in the region (rice paddy workers, fishermen) see little of the money coming in from tourists.

Environmental science students are fantastic guides for nature trips. Sylas and Tom (another student who came) know about seemingly every insect, plant, and bird we encountered, and were able to explain all the environmental processes and human practices shaping the region. Seeing Kuttanad from the perspective of a tourist, however, only makes the case for improving local conditions through self-led social entrepreneurship more pressing.

System construction began yesterday morning, so we have spent much of the past 48 hours in Achinakom, hard at work observing the build and laboring with the workers. We arrived at about 9:30 Sunday morning to find three hired laborers and a couple men from nearby helping prepare the canal. Although they had erected a tent over the system, there was about 30 cm of water and mud at the bottom (none of the workers in the canal seemed to pay any mind to the unfortunate smell and high potential for pollution in the stagnant water).

They were first working to excavate the canal walls to the proper width and curvature. Because the soil is quite loose and damp, this was not too difficult with hand tools and sufficient perseverance. The only serious obstacle was a tree stump partially intruding on the site. Removal seemed quite daunting, but they continued undeterred with axes and were able to pry several hundred pound of wood free. A bamboo-walled divider was also inserted to section off the canal, with its interior filled with excavated dirt.

Although experienced labor is a must for construction of this magnitude, local ownership, as fostered through an active role in construction, is absolutely essential for sustainability and self-sufficiency. Whether prearranged or not, villagers began to gather in the morning and around 11:00, a couple dozen women started transporting the concrete materials to the site. Around 150 cubic feet of aggregate (small rocks) and 200 cubic feet of sand had been delivered to the closest accessible spot several hundred feet away from the canal on the other side of a house. Using small metal trays, the women began a bucket brigade to move the piles, a task that took the bulk of the day. Unfortunately, because of the language barrier, we had difficulty helping to coordinate the processes. With limited wheelbarrow and space availability, some time was spent moving materials unnecessarily. Regardless, the women (of all ages), teenagers, and few men (as well as us three) showed an amazing level of dedication and perseverance working on such a tedious task for hours on end.

A couple women from nearby household brought out banana leaves and a pot of communal lunch for all the villagers and laborers, and work ceased almost immediately. After eating and tossing away our “plates” (the benefits of biodegradability), the final canal draining began. The bulk of the water was removed out with a large gas-powered centrifugal pump, but once the bottom became too muddy the workers resorted to manual measures, using a bucket suspended between two strings to scoop and fling the mud out of the pit.

Once the base was sufficiently dry, they began to put down successive layers of river sand, aggregate, and concrete mixture. Laying concurrently, they covered the foundation in about an hour. The women and other villagers began another operation passing these materials down to the laborers in the pit, while a couple other teenagers mixed the concrete and carted it over. Water continued to seep into the pit the whole time through the floor (at a rough rate of 10 l/m) so pumping and scooping continued intermittently. They also dug a small drain hole in the middle to collect infiltrated water for pumping.

Work continued until about 10:00 (a florescent lamp was brought out), when the foundation slab was finished, a final round of pumping was completed, and everyone headed home.

Brown engineering professor Chris Bull and his wife Maryijoan had arrived earlier that afternoon, but we did not see them until the morning. They will be staying here until Thursday to become acquainted with and support our work at MGU and in Kuttanad. After outlining some of our short- and long-term plans over breakfast, we headed to Achinakom with George Abe (of the CWRDM), Dr. Thomas and Dr. Ramasamy for their first inspection of the construction. The School of Environmental Science has made a substantial commitment to this project, and it is reassuring to see support from a high level in the department. All studies and projects under the auspices of a university here are typically subject to very close oversight and approval from professors every step of the way.

The second day of construction saw the beginnings of a concrete coat on the canal walls. This was premixed with water (1:16 cement:sand) and a small amount of soil stabilizer liquid, and applied via trowel. The foundation started to set, but water was still being removed periodically.

There was less participation on Monday, primarily because the men (and many of the women) have their own jobs to do. As we hope to engage women in the construction process so they can begin to build the systems more autonomously, we encouraged Suma to gather people to come watch the concrete application. A small group of village women gathered on the side of the canal and observed the work with a fair amount of timidity. Although they are interested in learning some skills and have expressed a willingness to work on scaling up the project in Achinakom, they are apprehensive about performing some of the work. Heavy-duty tasks like cement mixing and and digging are typically relegated to men. We will see how this process progresses, but hopefully it will be possible to incorporate their work as much as is physically possible while scaling back the necessity of hired laborers and professionals (although some masonry assistance will probably be inevitable for the foreseeable future).

Plans are to finish the side wall concrete tomorrow (Tuesday), let it set on Wednesday, and lay the concrete reinforcement on Thursday. We will hopefully spend some more time in Achinakom tomorrow with Chris Bull and Marijoan, meeting more of the villagers on the Western side who will not be the primary users of this system.