Three Cups of Tea (with lots of sugar)

Three Cups of Tea (with lots of sugar)

This is my blog which actually comes around the 15th of December. Unfortunately, it's out of order. I am working on my next blog currently. I am in the process of writing my blog on the status of clean water and sanitation in India. It's a mix of opinion and statistics. Hopefully, it will be done in the next couple of days. Sorry for the lack of pictures.

My friend Emily arrived in India last Saturday. I picked her up at the airport in Dehradun, and we got some lunch at a nice Indian restaurant on the way back to Mussoorie. Things are much easier for me to coordinate with taxi drivers, etc. now that I can confidently say that I speak Hindi. My Hindi is far from good, but I am able to get through many of the easy, day-to-day items without much problem. I also can’t get over my ability to understand so much more of what is going on around me.

Since Emily has arrived, we have gone to Happy Valley (the Tibetan village near Mussoorie), on a hike to flag hill, to many of the shops in Mussoorie, to a village, and to a cooking class. Out of all these things I will focus on my village experience. Not only was it the most interesting, but it was the first real taste of research for me. I have been practicing Hindi related to my research since arriving, but this was my first test.

I met with a woman in Mussoorie last Monday who is an Australian doctor but is focusing more on health issues in India. She has spent time living in slums and currently works with the Landour Community Hospital in villages. I went to get some advice from her, and she was able to get me to go on a village visit where they were discussing water issues.

The village which we visited was about 2 ½ hours from Mussoorie. I went by car with three men from the community hospital. They were impressed that I could speak some Hindi, and I was able to use it a lot in the village. The drive to the village was very pretty. We wound along the Yamuna River through the foothills of the Himalayas. When we arrived to the village, we came upon the main source of drinking water: a stream about half a kilometer from most of the houses. About seven women were sitting by the stream washing their clothes. I got out with Rajesh (my contact) to take some pictures and ask them some questions. Rajesh’s co-workers already knew the people of this village, so it was not considered problematic. (Rajesh is applying for a grant to improve the water supply in the village, so he came for a site-visit.) We got some nice photos and began to talk with the women about their water supply and what they saw as the problems. The main problem they emphasized at this point was the issue of sanitation. Most people do not have latrines in their houses. Therefore, they are forced to use the fields as their toilets. [Side note: In India’s villages (and even in Mussoorie/Landour), many people do not have toilets in their houses. Instead, there is a shared toilet and shower for the immediate neighborhood. For showering, people have taps they use with a drain on the floor. One of the main problems is women’s hygiene because many women shower in their clothes and never get fully clean.]  

We got this brief glimpse of the water issues from these women and headed to the main part of the village to meet with Vikram, our main contact. Vikram invited us into the village and took us up to the roof of his house. On the roof, we got into more water discussions, ate snacks, drank chai (twice), and enjoyed some scrambled eggs with steaming hot roti. What we learned from Vikram is that another issue in the village is that of water shortage. For example, in the summer months, the government provides tanker trucks of water because the stream dries up. Each household gets a number to receive their water. They have to arrive at the right time to receive their ration. Often, women spend the entire night working because they need to get their family’s drinking water during the day. Although collecting the water from the tanker truck only takes about a half hour, they often spend two to three hours total including waiting time. We asked whether the Panchayat (local village council) was making any progress on the water shortage issue or the latrines. According to our contacts, these issues are not discussed in their meetings.

From Vikram, we were able to get many of our questions answers. However, for this grant, Rajesh needs the support of the community itself and community leaders. I was actually able to make two suggestions here. Firstly, we spoke with some of the women from the community since they are primarily responsible for the provision of clean drinking water for their families. For these “interviews”, Rajesh left me a bit on my own. Using some of the questions I had practiced in my Hindi class, I was able to confirm their water source and corroborate the stories told to us by Vikram. Interestingly, I learned that the water is not boiled or filtered in any way before drinking. On my next trip, I hope to learn the quality of the water from some testing. [I wish I had a picture of this work. I was surrounded by a group of villagers – almost all women – asking them about their water supplies in Hindi. I know that I messed up some grammar, but they were still very eager to talk with me. They even offered for me to stay in the village so I could further improve my Hindi. I plan to take them up on their offer at some point.]

Before leaving the village, we had a meeting over chai with two of the village pradans (leaders of the Panchayats). Rajesh explained his vision for the grant application and what it would mean for the village if they receive the grant. From our discussions, the main issues related to water in the village related to lack of sanitation and the water shortage in the summer months. As a starting point, Rajesh is going to propose a grant which would install rainwater harvesting systems to collect water during the monsoon for use during the dry season. In addition, he is considering the idea of an eco-toilet to provide latrines, in particular to women. The idea is to get the community involved and also to create an awareness of water’s preciousness and how to use it properly. In addition, hygiene education would be another component. The village pradans were very supportive of the idea. At this point, the grant proposal is being drawn up. If it is received, I will be able to see some of it go into action. Either way, I am hoping to conduct my survey in this village now that I have contacts there. [Interestingly, I was able to share ideas which the NGO I am working with is implementing in another village in Uttarakhand. Through this, they will be able to network and work on best practices in community-based water management.]

On a totally different note, I think everyone will get a laugh out of the number of Indian guys I am attracting here. Not only do they all want a picture with me, but speaking Hindi apparently is quite a bonus. Within the last two days, Emily and I got two phone numbers. We met two guys on the train to Delhi, and today at the Red Fort, the guy selling the audio guides gave me his number. It’s pretty entertaining.

I am in Delhi right now doing a bit of sightseeing with Emily and getting ready for my upcoming conference. I leave for Rajasthan Monday. More to come from the desert…

Love,

Margaret

P.S. It snowed in Mussoorie twice this week. Once on my birthday and the entire night before leaving. In Delhi, it’s quite warm! I now understand why December is a good time to come to India. By the way, I had a hard time leaving Mussoorie. I had to say goodbye to all the nice friends I made. I am hoping to go back because I formed some really good friendships over the last four months. [Can you believe I have already been in India for more than four months?]