.lead Global internshipsTU students travel the world for internships. What do they do? Four civil engineering students just returned from India, where they tried to improve the sanitary situation of a village.
”They consider dung a worthwhile product of the holy cow.,,
Cleanliness
Several months ago Danny van der Veldt got the idea to combine his urge to visit India with an internship. %He found out about a opportunity at the IHE and asked the rest of us to join in,” Gert-Jan Smit recalls, referring to the International Institute for Hydraulic Engineering. Together with fellow sanitary engineering students Van der Veldt, Jaap Korf and Bas Baartman, Smit spent thirteen weeks in Northern India, returning a week ago.
Their project was part of a long-term project of the Rural Development Institute, which was set up by Swami Rama, a successful guru who also has a following in the United States. The money donated by these followers is used to help create a better situation for the people of the area Swami Rama was born. Legend has it that Swami Rama gained his enormous wisdom during the 11 months he spent meditating on a beam of light in an otherwise pitch-dark cave.
To insure that villages in the future can be provided with a good water supply, sanitation, wastewater removal, solid waste removal and infrastructure, a plan was needed. Van der Veldt, Korf, Baartman and Smit made a start with water supply.
”Our final report was based on the village Toli. Here, the government provides the water supply system, with a source three kilometres away, and pipelines snaking over the roads all the way down the mountains,, Smit tells. Problems arose because the pipelines are above ground, unprotected from the road or the sun. Smit: “It’s no wonder they regularly spring leaks somewhere along the line. And then it’s weeks before the government repairs them.” Because the sun warms the water in the pipes, people don’t trust its cleanliness. They only use it for washing and cooking. To get drinking water the women walk ten minutes to a source that trickles slowly into the jugs they carry on their heads, taking about 30 minutes to fill one.
Dung
“The local people don’t tend to trust the government to provide water because of situations like this,” Smit says. The most successful water-supply project in the area was the one at Bandawalli, because it was organised by the people for the people. People got trained to manage the upkeep themselves, and financed the project themselves. Smit: “The treasurer periodically makes a round of the village, collecting money from people. The poorer people don’t have to pay so much, but everyone chips in.”
One of the problems the team encountered while searching for a solution for the solid waste problem was cultural. The first problem they saw in that area was the abundance of cow dung in the streets. “When we suggested to find a solution for this problem first, someone replied: ‘But the dung fertilizes the ground, and you can use it for fuel.’ They consider dung a worthwhile product of the holy cow. But it would be nice if they remembered sometimes that it isn’t very clean and not put their hands into their food right after they’ve touched it though,”Smit comments.
“The solution we came up with for the village, Toli, is similar to the one implemented in Bandawalli,” Smit says. The village is divided into clusters, with each cluster responsible for their own section. In the end only one person will truly maintain the system, but a committee will be trained to be capable of fixing it as well. The people decide things together – what kind of latrines to install for example % and so create a feeling of co-ownership. The civil engineering students also suggest that such a project might have more effect if the committee has more political power, perhaps a role in the village council. This would make it easier for them to get funding from the government.
Merchants
Although the final report is based on Toli, it’s also applicable to many Indian villages with similar problems. Smit: “One other village, for instance, has enough water. The problem is that another village upstream keeps blocking the stream to divert more irrigation water to their own fields. So you need to look for other sources of water, or a different organisational solution. The problem is no longer a technical one.”
Smit enjoyed the work and the people: “Indian people can be very aggressive merchants. During our first week in India, an Indian salesman put a monkey on Korf’s neck, without being asked, and then afterwards wanted one hundred rupees for it.” In Jaisalmer taxi drivers were nearly fighting to take them in their taxi to their hotel.
“Once you get to know them, however, they are very friendly and open people. Very curious as well,” Smit experienced. Together with Van der Veldt he jumped on top of the jeep they took once, in imitation of the Indians. In no time, the whole village was crowding into the jeep for a ride with the strange foreigners. One man even closed his shop for the occasion.
Smit wouldn’t mind coming back, and maybe he’s lucky: “The idea of being a team leader for doing something like this in several villages appeals to me. The implementation of our project depends on funding. In a few years when the Institute has enough funds, they’ll give us a call.”
.lead Global internships
TU students travel the world for internships. What do they do? Four civil engineering students just returned from India, where they tried to improve the sanitary situation of a village. ”They consider dung a worthwhile product of the holy cow.,,
Cleanliness
Several months ago Danny van der Veldt got the idea to combine his urge to visit India with an internship. %He found out about a opportunity at the IHE and asked the rest of us to join in,” Gert-Jan Smit recalls, referring to the International Institute for Hydraulic Engineering. Together with fellow sanitary engineering students Van der Veldt, Jaap Korf and Bas Baartman, Smit spent thirteen weeks in Northern India, returning a week ago.
Their project was part of a long-term project of the Rural Development Institute, which was set up by Swami Rama, a successful guru who also has a following in the United States. The money donated by these followers is used to help create a better situation for the people of the area Swami Rama was born. Legend has it that Swami Rama gained his enormous wisdom during the 11 months he spent meditating on a beam of light in an otherwise pitch-dark cave.
To insure that villages in the future can be provided with a good water supply, sanitation, wastewater removal, solid waste removal and infrastructure, a plan was needed. Van der Veldt, Korf, Baartman and Smit made a start with water supply.
”Our final report was based on the village Toli. Here, the government provides the water supply system, with a source three kilometres away, and pipelines snaking over the roads all the way down the mountains,, Smit tells. Problems arose because the pipelines are above ground, unprotected from the road or the sun. Smit: “It’s no wonder they regularly spring leaks somewhere along the line. And then it’s weeks before the government repairs them.” Because the sun warms the water in the pipes, people don’t trust its cleanliness. They only use it for washing and cooking. To get drinking water the women walk ten minutes to a source that trickles slowly into the jugs they carry on their heads, taking about 30 minutes to fill one.
Dung
“The local people don’t tend to trust the government to provide water because of situations like this,” Smit says. The most successful water-supply project in the area was the one at Bandawalli, because it was organised by the people for the people. People got trained to manage the upkeep themselves, and financed the project themselves. Smit: “The treasurer periodically makes a round of the village, collecting money from people. The poorer people don’t have to pay so much, but everyone chips in.”
One of the problems the team encountered while searching for a solution for the solid waste problem was cultural. The first problem they saw in that area was the abundance of cow dung in the streets. “When we suggested to find a solution for this problem first, someone replied: ‘But the dung fertilizes the ground, and you can use it for fuel.’ They consider dung a worthwhile product of the holy cow. But it would be nice if they remembered sometimes that it isn’t very clean and not put their hands into their food right after they’ve touched it though,”Smit comments.
“The solution we came up with for the village, Toli, is similar to the one implemented in Bandawalli,” Smit says. The village is divided into clusters, with each cluster responsible for their own section. In the end only one person will truly maintain the system, but a committee will be trained to be capable of fixing it as well. The people decide things together – what kind of latrines to install for example % and so create a feeling of co-ownership. The civil engineering students also suggest that such a project might have more effect if the committee has more political power, perhaps a role in the village council. This would make it easier for them to get funding from the government.
Merchants
Although the final report is based on Toli, it’s also applicable to many Indian villages with similar problems. Smit: “One other village, for instance, has enough water. The problem is that another village upstream keeps blocking the stream to divert more irrigation water to their own fields. So you need to look for other sources of water, or a different organisational solution. The problem is no longer a technical one.”
Smit enjoyed the work and the people: “Indian people can be very aggressive merchants. During our first week in India, an Indian salesman put a monkey on Korf’s neck, without being asked, and then afterwards wanted one hundred rupees for it.” In Jaisalmer taxi drivers were nearly fighting to take them in their taxi to their hotel.
“Once you get to know them, however, they are very friendly and open people. Very curious as well,” Smit experienced. Together with Van der Veldt he jumped on top of the jeep they took once, in imitation of the Indians. In no time, the whole village was crowding into the jeep for a ride with the strange foreigners. One man even closed his shop for the occasion.
Smit wouldn’t mind coming back, and maybe he’s lucky: “The idea of being a team leader for doing something like this in several villages appeals to me. The implementation of our project depends on funding. In a few years when the Institute has enough funds, they’ll give us a call.”
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