Hunnar Shaala

Hunnar Shaala is one of my most favorite NGO's, led by a Sandeep Virmani and Kiran Vaghel and several other phenomenal managers. They focus on indigenous building/construction methods and water management and many other interventions for rural and urban marginalized communities. The thread that links all their work is that they want to learn from locals and help them see they already know what is required.

My sister has been working there for a year now. I just visited their office and her work in the slums of Bhuj.

Hunnar Shaala has a website (http://hunnar.org/) but I think it could do a much better job of showcasing all their excellent work. Anyone interested in helping them update their site?


They have a beeeeautiful new office that uses the building techniques they promote.



Kiranbhai (who helped greatly with some innovative Kalahandi work) and I share a laugh near their new workshop.


We're standing next to a rammed earth wall.


Another one of Hunnar Shaala's strength is to network effectively and efficiently with other groups to make lasting changes. Here is a community worker from KMVS that works with my sis facilitating slum housing in Bhuj.

Transition back to Bhawanipatna

Time goes,
Settings change,
Eyes, heart, mind rest.
All looks new...again.

Feels good to be back ... and adjusting.



Been nice to catch up with buddies in town. Here's Kumari. She's been sweeping for Gram Vikas for some time now. Her husband left her years ago. She has two beautiful kids and a gorgeous smile, melodious voice, and huge heart.


Here is Podur, one of my many favorite cycle rickshaw-walas. The best part about Bpatna is that there no autos! (Well, i did see one before I left in Aug.)



And the best part of town are the daily and weekly market scenes (taken from Podurbhai's rick).

Switzer Fellows 2011

Woohoo! I just experienced an incredible rush of inspiration reading about this year's Switzer Fellows!

Check them out:

http://www.switzernetwork.org/grant-programs/fellowship-grant-recipients-2011

The Law of Mother Earth

In theory, Bolivia's "Law of Mother Earth" is impressive. I hope it indeed brings benefits for Pache Mama and all of her inhabitants!

"Yes -- and."

What a simple, subtle, beautiful idea: "Yes -- and." :-)

The Universe Answers

In the Bijapada cluster, we have met a couple of villagers that have severe skin issues. Both patients are immobile, making it difficult for us to bring them out of the canyon and into a hospital. Also, their families say that they had earlier visited the hospital but their health did not improve.

...At first site of their skin illness, one cannot help but want to do something drastic and immediate. Their conditions look so very painful. Life would be so depressing. It's depressing to just see these guys. Every time I visit them, I visit Patient 1 first, since his hamlet comes first on our walk from the powerhouse site. I go thru the usual emotions; by the time I reach the next hamlet, I've almost forgotten the sadness. But then I encounter Patient 2 and the emotions rise again. ...Further depressing is that Patient 2's 16-year old grandson also has increasing areas of numbness on his limbs. ...What is the disease? Is is contagious? How many more people have it? What can we do? ...How can they just keep living day after day, dealing with it as it is?

Finally the Universe answers: Thanks to my friends Naman and Sri-- both phenomenal doctors working on developing country health issues--there is now a path in sight to address Patient 1 and 2's illnesses. Sri and Naman have connected us to specialists in the US and in Orissa who are willing to help diagnose the skin conditions, if we can get a few tests done. Local doctors are also very interested to help. ....We just need to make it happen....soon!

New Micro Hydro Project: Punjam

In parallel to the Bijapada project, we are implementing the Punjam project in Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district. Punjam differs from Bijapada in various ways which affect our work:

Hamlets

Although both villages have multiple hamlets, Punjam's hamlets are densely clustered, while Bijapada's four hamlets are kilometers apart from each other, making it more challenging for the community to organize itself.

Distance and Accessibility from Main Road

Although it takes us 2.5 hours to drive to both villages, Bijadapada requires several extra kilometers of walking/hiking. In addition to its hamlets being scattered kilometers apart, Bijapada's nearest motorable road is 2km away uphill. We love hopping and skipping down the canyon...but getting back out is often a workout, especially after a full day of walking to each hamlet...sometimes twice! Accessibility to the village are affecting the project budget, in terms of transporting materials to the village.

Number and Diversity of Households

Bijapada has around 50, fully tribal households, while Punjam has over 110 households, 90% of which are tribal. A smaller number of households makes it easier to recognize the main characters in the village and understand its social dynamics more quickly. Facilitating a larger village, mixed ethnicity village requires more diplomacy.

Village Wealth

While the 10% non-tribal households are a minority in Punjam, they are certainly the face of Punjam. The non-tribals are factors wealthier than the tribals. The wealthier households have activities outside of the village, making it easier for them to confidently communicate with us. For example, Punjam's wealthiest household (not surprisingly non-tribal) owns a tractor, half of the population does have land (according to what we have heard from certain villagers). While there is also some economic disparity in the Bijapada cluster, it is not as drastic. The wealth does not necessarily dictate leadership (as we have observed thus far) as it seems in Punjam.

NGO/Government Presence

While Punjam is frequented by NGO and government agencies, the Bijapada cluster has only the government watershed program (that we know of). This makes the community's response to us very different in both villages.

Civil Works' Level of Difficulty

While the power output for both project will be about 15kW, Bijapada's civil works will be very challenging, due to high flow and stone areas. Thanks to Ranjit's last 10 days in the village, Punjam's straightforward civil works are nearly finished!

Here are some images of Punjam. (The 3 basic components of micro hydro civil works are: weir, channel, and forebay tank.)

Punjam's small but beautiful water source:

Punjam's weir structure:

Punjam's channel:

Punjam's forebay tank in progress:

New Micro Hydro Project: Bijapada

Nestled amongst a beautiful canyon and its multiple streams is the site of our new micro hydro project, the Bijapada village cluster (50 households) in Thuamul Rampur block, Kalahandi district, Orissa. We are grateful to Christian Aid for supporting our work at this site and to Antodaya for suggesting Bijapada village.

Since November, it's been quite a journey in understanding the psyche of this relatively remote tribal community. In the next few posts, I will try to describe our journey thus far, in ensuring that the project is community-led, rather than NGO-led.

Time to time, I will invite local technicians, engineers, NGO staff, and community members to blog their experiences first-hand. For now, here are photos taken during the feasibility and design studies.

One side of the weir profile:

Other side of the weir profile:

We've had to think about how the weir will be anchored into the stone...

The water flow varies from 80-100lps, depending on the water use of the upstream village and seasonal changes:

Our new team member (holding the level) and an old friend, Ranjit Deshmukh, has been the technical lead for this project. With four existing projects to improve and implementing two new projects in parallel, needless to say, my plate has been full. Therefore, Ranjit's presence has been priceless in ensuring that we do not make technical mistakes (or at least do not repeat mistakes form earlier projects).

As a newbie to micro hydro implementation, Ranjit's key role is to learn from our Sri Lankan mentors and demystify the knowledge for the local team, consisting of technicians in Bhawanipatna (nearest town) and talented youth in the villages.

See the bamboo stick? The task of preparing the bamboo to use as a measurement tool became an opportunity for the village youth to bond with our team:

Richard Russell, a volunteer from the UK, helped with note taking:

A channel, likely made from HDPE or PVC pipe, will extend from the weir to the forebay tank:

The forebay tank will be located on top of the flat stone on the right:

The HDPE penstock will have to be routed from the forebay tank location to the powerhouse via the stone walls. ....Yes, challenging work ahead!

After the first 100m, the penstock will have a nice, boring path thru the woods and on soil...

...down to the powerhouse location:

During one of our visits, when all the adults were busy with their harvesting, 3 young guides were sent to make sure we didn't get lost. These three kept an eye on us the entire visit, whether nearby or from a distant rock.