Field Visit 2: Pareda Rawla & Pareda Nichla

Ah, back from the field and it feels so good to be beside this window with my cooler blowing on me once again ;)

But seriously, the field visit this time around was MUCH better!! The weather was much more bearable and the cook made a concerted effort to make the food less spicy for me. To be honest, it was still spicier than I was used to, but I made an effort to eat as much as I could so I wouldn't lose too much energy. I think we were all much more prepared about what to expect this time around. For instance, I brought more snacks and I really stayed on top my water situation so I didn't get dehydrated or exhausted. I also got heat rash last time so I came stocked with goldbond powder and calamine lotion in case that happened again, which luckily it didn't! We covered a lot of ground and met with some really incredible groups of women. We also got our water kit on the last day (yesterday) and went crazy collecting samples in the morning and then analyzed them all evening - will share more about this later.

It was quite a nice experience. I don't think I can explain how beautiful the landscape is in the area I'm working in. It is truly a joy to bask in the picturesque views everyday. Its like discovering a small piece of paradise (in my humble opinion). I will be sure to share lots of pictures at the end of this post in hopes of conveying how lovely it is!! After speaking with my teammates, I am even more excited to go back during the monsoon season to see how beautiful and lush it will look when everything is in bloom after the rains.

We got in late Monday afternoon and decided to wait until Tuesday to head into the field. Like I mentioned in my last post, we are focusing on water quality and in particular on fluoride. We met with one of the village elders on Monday to rack his brain on the issue and to find out what he knew (if anything) and how we might best proceed with our questioning. Then, we spent a few hours hammering out some questions and some semblance of an interview guide that we followed for the rest of our vist, albeit somewhat informally. Most of the questions were centered about water quality, awareness and prevalence of waterborne disease, treatment and storage techniques (if any), general health issues, general questions about food and milk consumption (many people laughed at this, but the idea behind asking about food was to find out if the foods they were eating were also high in fluoride and also if they were ingesting enough calcium to offset some potential fluorosis), and then we delved into these women's self help groups (SHGs) to find out more about how they worked, how they were formed, what type of activities they undertake, etc ... These were informal interviews and focus groups, so our conversations often took other directions. For instance, we were told that alcoholism and domestic violence were issues throughout the community. Additionally, we probed people's interest in some kind of water storage system, like a rainwater storage tank to help battle water shortages.

We spent Tuesday through Thursday in the field. We held a total of 11 focus group discussions and two informal interviews (one with the Dr at the health center and the other with the Block Coordinator from Seva Mandir's Kherwara office). It is just now donning on me how much we did in three short days!! We visited very poor houses with malnourished children and poor water quality to more affluent households with latrines and borewells and healthy looking families and everything in between. Even those who are poor were often very generous. They went out of their way to find us chairs or beds to sit on (they sat on the ground), they offered us water (and sometimes chai), or they gave gifts of herbal plants or fruits. Seriously, some of the loveliest people I've met. There was one group where a lady was so entranced by my hair. She kept touching my ponytail and patting me on the back and was asking all these questions about me. It was so sweet! The kids are so cute too. They can't help but stare at me, but when I catch them at it they turn their heads and give me shy little smiles. The moms with babies were always encouraging them to go to me, with lots of smiles and hand motions. It usually didn't work but it was sweet just the same.

Anyway, long story short, we spent all of yesterday morning (Friday) collecting our precious water samples - 20 in all - and then spent the afternoon analyzing them with the help of a field water testing kit. Unfortunately, it seems that the fluoride reagent is a dud. I will be testing this again at the hostel again tonight to be sure, but it seems unlikely that all the fluoride concentrations were the same between the different sources, and thats exactly what it was telling us. This is dissapointing to say the least. We may need to look into the professional route (e.g. sending the samples to a laboratory for chemical analysis) so we can find out for sure. The reason I think it is a dud is because the clean, filtered water that we used as a control also came out with the same fluoride concentation. This is highly unlikley seeing as we know it was purified through reverse osmosis, which is generally known to remove fluoride.

Back to the drawing board for now. My group and I will have to discuss more options later.

In between all of the running around, we found time for group fun. The girls and I (Anita and Pallavi are my female group members) had fun talking, watching movies, listening to music, and I often read from my Nook. Pallavi also did a beautiful henna design on my hand - she is quite talented (see below for picture)! Manuj, our fourth group member often joined us, as well as Naresh, our local field guide.

Lets get to the pictures!!

All Settled In

Well, I think its safe to say I'm pretty much settled in to my life here in Udaipur! Classes were back in full swing after our most recent field visit, and we even had introductory presentations to let everyone know where our project stood and how we intend to proceed.

I wrote in my last entry about my experience in the field and some of the problem areas we had identified through discussions and interviews with the villagers. We have decided to focus on something a little different than the issues we originally identified. While we were in the village we heard some of the people say that their water (which is pulled from deep groundwater wells) does not taste good. We also noticed what looked like iron deposits on the cloth filter that covers the spigot. We have decided to look into this issue and see if we can't identify what might be making the water taste bad and try to find a community solution to fix it.

As it turns out, all 32 regions of Rajasthan are known to be endemic to fluoride, which is mainly influenced by the geological conditions in the region (as well as in other parts of India). The main point to note here is that the fluoride level in the groundwater is often quite high. The permissible limit recognized by the Indian Govt and the WHO is 1.5 mg/L; although, certain parts of Rajasthan have groundwater that tested as high as 37 mg/L!!! Ingesting more than 1.5 mg/L on a regular basis leads to dental fluorosis (including pitting, staining, and hyperpigmentation of the teeth). Ingesting more than 4 mg/L on a regular basis leads to osteoporosis and crippling skeletal fluorosis is seen in individuals who consume 10 mg/L on a daily basis for the majority of their lifetimes. Quite scary stuff!!

Long story short, we are planning to investigate this problem. Our NGO partner in the field claims that the government water quality reports put fluoride levels at somewhere around 7 mg/L, but we don't know where they sampled or how many sources they sampled. So, we are going to do the sampling on our own! We've got a water testing kit that we will be bringing into the field with us to try and find out what exactly is in people's water. Once we figure this out, we can work with them to recommend solutions that are feasible and affordable for the community. Luckily, there is an existing network of women's self help groups that have had success raising money for community projects in the past, so we are hoping to collaborate with them in hopes that they will carry this project forward after we leave the summer program.

My reserach adviser was also in town for the past few days to teach a few of our classes and to hold some meetings with Seva Mandir (our NGO partners). We've had some delays in scheduling due to factors outside of our control, so we are planning to re-adjust accordingly. This affects me as it makes it impossible to conduct my current survey any time soon, so I will have to find a new project that with have a similar focus (water & sanitation) and hopefully turn that into my thesis instead. Its okay though!! There is a lot going on here and I feel confident I can make something happen in the weeks I have left.

Overall, I am having a lovely time. The driving still scares the bejeezus out of me, but other than that I feel like I am becoming pretty well acclimated to India. Some lessons I've learned in the past few weeks:

1. The price is never fixed, even if they claim it is. Always barter. For everything.
2. Random men will ask to take pictures with me (and other foreigners) at public places. I have started asking them for 10 rupees before they take the picture. That tends to quell their interest.
3. Always ask "how much" before getting into a rickshaw. Refer back to point 1 about bartering.
4. Don't be afraid to act a little crazy. Crazy gets things done.
5. Keep reminding people that you are there (especially in restaurants) or they will just ignore you.
6. Lines don't exist. Someone, often multiple someones, will always jump in front of you while loudly airing their issues. You gotta get pushy and a little crazy to get help around here (refer back to point 5).
7. Always watch where you are stepping. In general, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are always a million things going on.
8. NEVER stick your hands or legs outside of a moving rickshaw. ALWAYS hold on to the side or top bars.

I'm including a few pictures from my latest forays into town (including a trip to the Moonsoon Palace today).

I leave for the field tomorrow afternoon and I won't be back until Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to sharing more experiences and pictures with you guys then!

Field Visit 1: Pareda

I'm back from my first trip to the field!

We left bright and early Friday morning and took a two hour car ride to Kherwara block, where Kojawara is located. We ended up getting in later than we planned, and because it was soon going to reach peak heat of the day, we decided to take it easy, eat some lunch, and wait until 5 or so to head out and meet the villagers. In the meantime, we spoke with numerous officials who work with Seva Mandir (my group's partner NGO) and got their perspective on what were some of the major cultural, health, and environmental issues in the area. We also learned about five or six of the surrounding villages and how big they were, etc.

Some major issues that stuck out (in my opinion):

1. Migration (both seasonal and permanent). Men will leave their families sometimes up to one year at a time to find work in neighboring states like Gujarat. Other times, whole families will pick up and migrate to new states in search of more work and better opportunities.

2. Child marriage. It used to be common to marry girls around 7 or 8 years of age. However, the government cracked down on this some time ago and wrote a law that says girls can't be married until 18 years. While many people do follow this rule, there are still some girls who are being married at 13 and onwards. This means they are having children very young (which comes with a whole host of other complications).

3. Education. Most children in these areas do not make it much past 8th grade before they are forced to drop out and help the family. This is especially true for girls, who are expected to stay home and help their monthers with housework and childcare.

4. Climate change. Numerous people commented to us on the changing weather patterns in recent years. Many agree that Rajasthan is getting hotter. This is having a ripple down effect on agriculture and livlihoods.

Those are just a few of the major ones - there are many others as well! Our project is supposed to focused around the climate change aspect (per the request of our NGO), so we may go forward with something around irrigiation or somehow adapting village life to climate change.

My team and I decided to focus our interests around a village called Pareda, which is actually made up of three seperate areas and about 10 or so hamlets (gatherings of smaller villages, usually by caste). I am just really learning how the caste system works myself, but essentially there are general castes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Once you get into the scheduled denomination, you are getting into what has historically been considered the lower castes or "untouchables". I say historically because it seems that there is much less animosity between groups now; although, they do continue to segragate themselves within the villages. I have heard from many Indian students that the caste system is all but dead in the big cities.

We spent our mornings (6-12) and evenings (5-7/8) visiting the village and meeting with different groups in an attempt to gather some baseline information about what was going on there, and any thoughts or opinions they had for improvements. We also worked with different groups to draw something called a social map. Basically, the idea is to sit down with different groups of people (men, women, children, village leaders) to draw a map of the village as they see it. This is an interesting way of gathering information about importanct resources and village hierarchies, etc. It was quite an experience!! Super hot and sweaty to say the least!

I've included some pictures of village life below. I think most are self-explanatory, so I didn't include captions this time. Hope you enjoy!

First days in Udaipur

Whew! Where to even begin?! It's been a crazy couple of days (in a good way).

A few first impressions of India: colorful. loud. smelly(good & bad). crazy driving. delicious food.

My first experience in a car was quite terrifying if I'm being completely honest. There are no real road traffic rules here. Sure, there are "lanes", but people tend to ignore those if it suits their fancy (and it always does). The upside of this is that there is almost never traffic. It's absolutely incredible how they always find a way around each other without hitting anything! Besides other cars they are also dodging cows, dogs, small children on bicycles, pedestrians, motorcycles, & scooters. The horn is their best friend and everyone uses it all the time. I can even hear some from my window now actually and I am quite far from the main road. I must say though, I am starting to get used to it!

The food has been incredible. If you did not know already, I am a huge fan of Indian food!! So much spice and flavor. I am told they are taking it easy on us and not ramping up the spice as much as usual. I am tempted to try street food to see what it's really like but that is kind of iffy, so I am waiting until my stomach gets a bit stronger. I've already had one tummy upset, although I seem to have gotten over it pretty quickly. I'm hoping to keep it that way!

My room at the dorm is very nice. Simple, but nice. I've got a bed, desk, two bookshelves and two large closets. There is no A/C here but we do have something called desert coolers in our windows. Its essentially the same thing as A/C. It consists of water dripping slowly through hay while a fan blows the cool air on you - its great! I also have a ceiling fan, so between those two I am much cooler than I would be otherwise. It has been over 100 degrees everyday since I've been here. At peak times in the afternoon it gets up to 111 - 115 degrees!! Luckily is has been more cloudy the past two days so it hasn't been quite as hot as that.

Classes started on June 1st and everyone was trickling in on the 28th, 29th, & 30th. We have each met our team members in person now and we are preparing for our first couple days of field work which will take place this Friday - Sunday. The village my team is going to is called Kojawara and it located about 70 km (~44 miles) from the city center. We will be staying in a health referral center (one level down from a hospital) which will have electricity, running water, and a toilet! Not at all how I thought it would be but I think the program has tried really hard to make sure we are somewhat comfortable during our time in the field. They also said they will be calling to check up on us each day.

The city itself is a mix of beautiful palaces and temples, lots of friendly people, small/crowded roads, and is full of sights, sounds and smells. I had the pleasure of visiting the City Palace on my frist day here and it was incredible! So lovely and so full of history. Unfortunately, I didn't get a proper picture of it, although I have included some pictures of my travels around town below.

I am totally loving it here!! I feel safe, happy, and so grateful to be having this experience. I have been welcomed with open arms and I am being well taken care of so there is no need to worry for me. Besides some staring and pointing, I haven't been bothered much at all on my outings to the cities. Some of the little children will come up to me and say "hello!" and "how are you?" which I find so adorable. They usually run away giggling when I do get the chance to answer them.

Anyways, on to the pictures! Thanks for stopping by!

Jag Mandir

Downtown Udaipur (looking out from the Temple steps)

In the back of the rickshaw

Colorful goodies at the supermarket

Wearing typical garb - the top is called a kurta and the bottom is leggings

Inside of a fabric/clothing store

Rickshaws waiting for business in the central market

Fruit stands in the central market

Little girl in her pretty dress

You can see the typical Rajasthani elephant to the right of the door

One of the many temples

I have arrived!

Hi everyone!

I'm finally here! Got into Delhi last night after a 14 hour flight ... whew! I sat next to a very nice mother/child duo on the plane over. I tried to stay awake as long as I could (to try and battle the jet lag I would inevitably face) but I eventually succumbed to a very restless sleep for a good bit of the flight. I am paying for that now as I have been wide awake since 3 AM. I should mention that I jumped ahead ten hours, so it may be a few days before my clock resets.

I have an overnight layover so I booked a small resting room in the airport to relax until I head to the domestic terminal to catch my flight to Udaipur. One of the Indian students from the program will be meeting me at the gate and we will fly in together which will be very nice. The university has already arranged for our pick-up and transport to our final destination so that is another weight off my chest. I love when I don't have to stress about getting places while traveling!

Anyways, I will have regular access to internet, so I plan to update somewhat regularly. I will try to do a little introductory post about Udaipur in a few days.

Namaste :)

My latest adventure: India!

Hi there!

Thanks for taking a second to visit my blog.

I'm assuming you're here because you know that in a few weeks time I am headed off on my next grand adventure ... 12 weeks in India! More specifically, I will be living and working in Udaipur ("ooh-dye-pour"), a beautiful city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. So beautiful, in fact, it's often referred to (along with a handful of other South Asian cities) as "the Venice of the East."

On May 28th, I will be travelling with a group of 10 graduate students from different schools at Duke (e.g. policy, economics, environment, health, & business) to take part in an intensive six week course on international development. Each of us will work in teams alongside Indian students and early career professionals to identify and assess existing gaps in community needs for some of India's poorest populations. Throughout this process, my team and I will spend a considerable amount of time in rural areas to learn and engage in some of the biggest sociopolitical challenges in the region. Needless to say, I am incredibly excited and anxious to begin my journey!

For the last six weeks, I will be working for an Indian non-profit called Seva Mandir and also conducting my master's research.

I invite you to stop by here every so often to see what I am up to and to learn about India as I experience it. I welcome your comments and questions and I promise to provide lots of beautiful pictures along the way! :)


- Alec