Our time at Water Literacy Foundation (June-July 2015)

June 25-July 3:During the first week we learned a lot about Mr. Ayappa Masagi’s mission and goals

through his book and through many PowerPoints that were presented to us by Praveen. We also talked to the past interns, Fanny and Leon, about what they had done and what we should do to get as much out of this internship as we could. From the book we got a basic understanding of the rainwater recharging and recycling processes. We were a little confused by them but we would later understand them better by seeing them at the farms.

July 6-July 10: July 6th we finally met Mr. Masagi when he took us with him to a couple Rain Water

Concepts/ Water Literacy Foundation business proposals. We went to Prestige Tech Park and listened to Mr. Masagi go through 3 different presentations describing his work and how it would benefit the company. We learned about the changes in water availability in India over the years and how, if the tech park is able to harvest rainwater, then they would be able to use that water for grounds keeping and to recharge the ground water table. We also had taken some notes to ask Praveen about later. During the presentation we saw videos of the before and after borewells and how much water was flowing in them. We also had some notes to maybe make the steps from introduction to proposal more efficient; it seemed to us that the people there already knew about Mr. Masagi, so the introduction slides were a little redundant. We also noticed that there were a lot of slides that were, if not the same, then similar in the multiple PowerPoints that he went through during the meeting.

After the Tech Park we went to Metro Cash and Carry and met with one of the managers to do the same proposal. There they are already implementing rainwater harvesting processes but they had just been pumping it into the ground instead of recycling the water and using it for their grounds keeping, watering and maintenance.

The next day, Mr. Masagi took us to his farm. On the way, we stopped at a local restaurant and learned how to eat rice with our hands. Then we toured his farm and got to see firsthand the things we had read about, like tree-based agriculture, drip irrigation, and lake-type borewell recharging units. We also learned that Mr. Masagi wants to rebuild the forests that formerly filled India, so we stopped at two tree nurseries, where farmers could buy trees to plant between the rows of crops. We learned that the farmers pumped the rainwater through the fields for two hours once a week through the drip irrigation system.

As we drove home, we discussed what parts of the day intrigued us, and we found that Celia enjoyed understanding the agricultural sector and being out in the field. Katrina, though, discovered that the agricultural area was not as exciting and that the urban education and advocacy was more interesting to her.

On Thursday of that week, we came to work and experienced something different. There were a lot more people in the community, and there was wailing heard from just outside the office door. A man living nearby had passed away during the night, and the community was mourning the loss. We knew that we could work from home, so we went back to the apartment because we didn’t know the appropriate thing to do during that time. We worked from home the next day, filling out the application for the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award. During the rest of the week, we wrote and sent out a newsletter that described Mr. Masagi’s new award, the finished project at The Golden Palms Hotel and Spa, and the incoming and past interns.

July 13-July 17:Monday of this week, we worked from the apartment since Celia was feeling ill. We

worked on the map of projects that had been completed throughout India and a few other small projects. On Tuesday, we were invited to tour The Green Path, an eco-hotel, and its partner restaurant that’s being built near our apartment. There we saw their use of solar panels, animal waste recycling for fuel, organic plants, and small-scale rainwater harvesting. We enjoyed seeing it, but we were disappointed in their use and scale of rainwater harvesting.

On Wednesday we worked on the map again, and on Thursday Katrina was sick. Sujata invited us to an apartment project, but we declined the offer since we couldn’t both go. Finally, on Friday, Praveen took us to two temples and The Golden Palms Hotel and Spa. We saw the seepage-type borewell recharging unit that had just been completed. We got to hear a testimonial from one of the hotel’s workers, during which Praveen told us, “It is not a storage tank, this is a water recharge tank. It is taking water and collecting it temporarily and from there storing it happens and then slowly water starts going to the borewell. If you keep it open - evaporation, we don’t want that to happen.” During the interview, we also learned the before-and-after story, since the worker said they had one inch of water for one hour each day before the work was done. After the tank was created, they had a constant flow of one inch of water for at least four hours each day. Again, we realized that we had learned more from the book than we thought we had, since we understood what was happening with very little explanation. We also saw smaller recharge tanks (possibly called infiltration wells?) that were set up to help the landscaping thrive by watering the plants.

July 20-July 24:This was nearly our last week. We started out by going to another farm with Mr. Masagi.

From this trip, we gained the most insight into the organization and its work. Even while we were rained out and were attacked by ants, we saw physical evidence of the benefits of Mr. Masagi’s work compared with neighboring farms that did not take his advice. We saw two lake-type borewell recharging units and some soak trenches and pits that connected the lakes to an overflow pond on the land. On a tour of the farm, we were shown the borewell and a pump and filter for its water. The farm also had an animal-and-human-waste collector that helped fuel the house. The farm had more tree-based agriculture and drip irrigation, and we witnessed how the locals used the rainwater for washing. We got to learn what different types of trees look like and what the fruits are, including custard apples. It was easier to understand tree-based agriculture here, since the trees had been planted last year instead of two weeks before we came. After the farm tour, Mr. Masagi tried to show us some presentations on his work, but we had already seen most of them from Praveen or from the Metro and Prestige presentations.

On Tuesday we recovered from the long trip and late night by working from the apartment. We nearly finished the map, and we worked on the newsletter that described some articles on water scarcity and another success story. Wednesday morning we came to work and finished the newsletter. Praveen drove us to Bisleri Water Company, where we saw the fruits of WLF’s labor with borewell recharging and rainwater harvesting, which made the grounds very beautiful. We learned that the company had not been harvesting rainwater prior to WLF’s intervention, and they were threatened to be shut down if they didn’t talk with Mr. Masagi. We learned why the pipes to the water collection and filter tanks are placed higher – so that trash and other unwanted items could gather above all that and not clog the pipes. We also learned that the water on the highway ruined the roads, so the city was more than willing to let Bisleri collect that water. We then visited Nandi Hills to enjoy the scenery.

Thursday morning we worked from home, since there was no one at the office. On Friday, we finished some projects and wrote this report about our experiences.

Reflections:Overall, we felt that we learned a lot. There were days when there was very little to do, so

we wished that there had been more structure or specific projects to work on. We also wanted to tag along on a school trip, where we could watch a presentation that advocated water conservation to the children, but this never happened. Because of miscommunication, we were asked to raise funds for a local orphanage’s project. We declined this idea because we only wanted to learn about rainwater harvesting and water conservation and because we did not have

ways to raise money. We think that Water Literacy Foundation is doing its best, but there are ways that interns can be more effective.

I (Katrina) learned about the culture barrier in another country. I had always imagined that I could just pick myself up, move to another country, and work with an organization. Instead, I realize that it takes incredible dedication to learn the language and the cultural norms. There were so many times when I thought it odd that people were arguing over something, but it ended up being typical conversations or interactions, by Indian standards. This isn’t necessarily disappointing or anything, but it was something that I reflected on for a while.

I (Celia) was expecting to be put on a project for the whole time I was here and see the progression from the beginning to the end. Although I did learn a lot about the processes and each step individually, it would have been interesting to see all of the parts of one project. One thing that really interested me was one of Mr. Masagi’s introduction slides that’s on a lot of his presentations. It says Neeru means water, and Nee Iru means you stay. So with that, he kind of puts all of his ideas into a couple of words. He is getting water to stay where it has landed and used there instead of letting it go far away.

We appreciate all the work that this foundation has done to educate us and get us involved in the war on water. Thank you for what you have done. Keep creating water warriors!