Cool Kalahandi

Beautiful Kalahandi - 3000ft up meant cool nights (great relief)

Khandual Waterfalls in Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary

Another blog entry produced so quickly? An early Christmas present perhaps? It’s actually because I've been out in the field. With one days notice I packed my rucksack with a week's clothes, a sleeping bag, mosquito net and a warm blank; I was heading to Kalahandi. The overnight train left Berhampur at 22.25 and I was due to be picked up by field staff at Tikiri at 06:55 the following morning. Kalahandi is a remote district in eastern Orissa, known for its wildlife sanctuaries and hillside villages. To give you some idea of the size of India (and Orissa) Kalahandi has a similar population as The Gambia (1.5m) and occupies about 80% of the land. There are thirty other districts in Orissa and thirty five states/unions in India! Anyway back to the field trip - I'd brought a good blanket as we'd be staying at 3,000ft in the field office - warm days but chilly nights. I'd be joined by Rohit, his wife Anusha and her brother Abhishek - three new Gram Vikas managers. Our plan would be to visit a number of villages that had implemented various GV projects - ranging from standard gravity-flow bathroom/toilets to micro-hydro plants and solar powered installations. The current record low price for solar panels has lead Gram Vikas to plan numerous installations at their own field offices and schools - we would be carrying out pre-install surveys at Bafala and Thuamal Rampur School. We were picked up in a Mahindra Bolero jeep - squeezing nine of us and baggage into the vehicle for the three hour journey. Some of the roads were little more than tracks; at one point we had to leave our vehicle and trek for hour, crossing a river by boat, before visiting an impressive solar powered site at Maligaon. Gram Vikas' role is one of facilitator, with a small funding role. The majority of the funds for projects are sourced from government schemes and the villagers themselves (usually including labour and materials too). We're always very warmly welcomed - many villagers think we're actually benefactors and I've even had children touch my feet (a Hindi sign of respect) - very humbling.

Solar installation at Malagaon

The following day we visited a local school, only a few yards from our programme office. Solar panels would soon be fitted to the school's roof allowing both the school and office to share electricity 24/7. The life of a solar panel is typically about twenty years with minimal maintenance - batteries last considerably less (~five years) with continued distilled water top-ups. Gram Vikas also makes the effort to integrate its schools/offices with the local environment. You'll notice numerous crops being grown, water from wash-rooms/toilets recycled to grow papaya/bananas. Even the playground was constructed using local wood swings and roundabouts. They’ll be pretty much self sufficient.

Thuamal Rampur Gram Vikas School - one of four residential schools in Orissa

The food at the field office was another highlight (again benefiting from the school crops). The rumour is that it is deliberately so - an incentive for people to leave the comfort of the head office in Mohuda and brave life in the field. We had wonderful vegetable curries, salads and amazing ginger chai (tea). Another hardship (not really for me) is the lack of mobile/cellular coverage. It's understandable that people will want to keep in touch with their loved ones when posted to remote areas. Kalahandians have an amusing solution to this - they're called "Hello Points". These are areas (usually on the top of a mountain or a cliff edge) of weak cellular coverage - people gather to make/receive phone calls. In one case three guys were actually surfing the Internet with a laptop on a cliff edge (I mentioned my blog but they weren't interested).

Hello Point - Extreme Internet surfing!

The following day we would visit a micro-hydro plant - something I was looking forward to. Kalahandi as you'll have gathered is quite hilly and water is utilised to the maximum by Gram Vikas. Standard sanitation/bathroom installations make use of gravity flow water supplies; that is taking water from a higher source allowing it to then work in showers, bathrooms, flow uphill etc (using the siphon principle). Hydraulic rams are also used to aid the movement of water to outlying fields - they require no additional power other than a water supply, all very clever. Where there is sufficient water flow small hydro-electric turbines have been installed to generate power for an entire village (up to 15kw in the case of Purnaguma). The villages where GV have carried out projects are not only transformed by improved health with clean water supplies but they also become oases of fruit, vegetables and flowers.

15Kw Micro-hydro at Karnivel

Gram Vikas ensures clean drinking water!

Two volunteers at Gram Vikas would be moving on in November - Jack continued on his gap year travels by visiting Thailand. He then heads to Laos/Vietnam/Malaysia/Singapore before flying to Argentina (back via the Middle East?!?), then to California before finishing off in Australia – the route looks crazy on a map. Olive (who had helped me move to Orissa and for which I'm eternally grateful) is heading back to Ireland, her one year VSO placement coming to an end. We’ve also had two new volunteers from Montreal - Daniel and Helene, so the numbers of volunteers stays healthy. Although I'll miss the office craic with Olive the silver lining is that I now have a broadband connection in my house. The process of transferring this from Olive's name allowed the Indian love affair with bureaucracy, paperwork and stamping things to go stratospheric. After numerous trips to BSNL (local telephone company) an affidavit and indemnity bond were issued! My favourite line from the bond is..."I do hereby agree to surrender to the President of India the telephone number 06082260016". I also bought the VSO fridge (for 4,500 rupees!) and now have a toaster, iron and gas stove. This means I can finally cook. Today I started off slowly by cooking chicken & mushroom pasta. When I say "cooking" I actually mean emptying a sachet into a mixture of simmering milk and water. I then gave it the Marcus touch by adding extra pasta and a chicken and leak cup-a-soup - very tasty!