'Umbru'

I recently discovered the perks of working in hydro power. You get to travel to amazing locations with beautiful streams and waterfalls while 'working'.

Last week I visited a couple of remote villages towards the Western Ghats to view the home use pico-hydro systems of around 300W that are changing the lives of the villagers who use them.

An old woman (pictured) talked of how she was literally crying with joy when she first saw a bulb illuminating the house in which she had lived for 25 years without power.

Following this moving event, we walked up the stream which provides this life changing energy and came to a beautiful waterfall which demonstrated the natural power of the earth and the way it can be harnessed to change peoples lives.

I made the mistake of wearing shoes rather than flip flops and following a short walk took them off to reveal a nasty 'Umbru' or leach which had swelled to the size of a ping pong ball with my fresh blood. Eugh!!

Friday was filled with a visit to the local Dharmastala temple with some visiting students from Singapore. The temple caters for 40,000 visitors in peak season who travel from across the country to assemble here.

The men were all required to remove their tops and wear a small piece of cloth before seeing the wonders that lay inside. The temples trust are responsible for so much work in the area including the college I am working in and many of the local development projects. I myself am not religious but it appears that the temples in this region have a huge importance in advancing the living conditions of a huge percentage of the population.

On saturday, us interns travelled up to another remote village to view an improved stove demonstration. This is the stove which previous EWB volunteers had been contributing towards. It was fabulous to see some of the work of past volunteers being put into practice.

Tonight we leave on the night train for a short trip to Bangalore and Mysore although I cant say that my trips to the waterfalls, temple and stove demonstration have felt too much like hard work.

Hot Water and a Western Toilet!!!!!!!

Yesterday, the owner of Panchami Lodge, our current residence opened a magical door to a special room containing a water heater and a western toilet!! This morning the hot water combined with tears of joy to provide the best shower Ive ever had.

The whole weeks been pretty exciting. The other day we were taken to a new eatery by a new intern whos working here and is from the area. While the decore was simple to say the least and I stepped in a large cow pat right in the middle of the doorway with only flip flops on, the authentic South Indian cuisine served on a banana leaf and eaten without cutlery more than made up for my misfortune/stupidity.

Then Pratik, the second intern left for home and a job in Delhi. A very sad moment and as both our room buddies and guides had left. It sunk in that evening that me and Rushil are on our own now but thanks to our guides useful advice and help I think we'll be ok (especially now we have hot water!)

This weekend myself and Rushil also made the two hour rollercoaster ride into Mangalore and on to Ullal beach where apart from the thunderous waves we found a level of peace in the Summer Sands resort which contrasted so dramatically with the general exciting hustle and bustle of India's streets.

Im also feeling very happy and comfortable with my project and Anand has announced a plethora of other things to keep us busy which also involve a fair amount of travel so that we can see a bit of the region.

Pictures of the shower to follow!

Bye to Srinath, Hi to Hydro Power

So today is a very sad day. Srinath, one of the two Indian interns here who have helped us so much and who we've shared some good times with is leaving. To celebrate we're going to go to our usual haunt for dinner, Sapna, but we're going to sit in the AC SECTION!!!!!! Im very excited.

Meanwhile, not seeing the sun in 2 weeks has led me to believe that a solar cooking project may be a little tricky to investigate and Im waiting on an anemometer although initial measurements taken from the prospective sight suggest that wind speeds may not be consistent enough for a cost-effective wind turbine.

This has led me to look into a new project, a pico-hydro turbine with a view to providing mechanical power to a local industry and possibly electricity to a small community. Ideally both!

Although in two months its extremely doubtful that I'll get to any actual building, hydro is the technology with obvious potential in this region which is very hilly with a long, wet monsoon season and reasonable rainfall for most months of the year. Therefore I believe that looking into potential sites and sizing of a prospective system which can then be passed onto future interns as part of a 3-5 yr plan of implementation will be the best use of my time both personally and for SELCO.

As far as time off goes, we ventured up to Anands farm the other day. The farm is set at the foot of the Western Ghats, a range of picturesque, luscious green mountains with a stream running through and a small plot of rice fields. This was probably one of my favourite experiences of the trip so far.

We also went into Mangalore to the cinema. I was outvoted so we had to see Transformers rather than a Bollywood film but it provided a small reminder of home for which I was grateful.

With the existence of the sun being in serious doubt the solar water heater is still not working on our building so I'd kill for some hot water and a western toilet.

Anyway, I'm off to psyche myself up for the AC experience.

A lot to look forward to!

Mumbai, Monsoons and Madness

Four days ago I stepped off the plane into Mumbai and the most incredible rains Ive ever seen, these have continued consistently until the present moment. I Knew I was coming for the Monsoon season but wow! Rather than feeling depressing and miserable though the rains complete the surroundings providing a luscious beauty.



After a crazy ride through the city and a brief stay in a guest house (kindly offered for free by some relatives of Rushil) we boarded the plane to Mangalore where we were met by two other very friendly interns working at SELCO, Pratik and Srinath who have been our indespensible guides. A 1 hour precarious ride through the jungle in a small tin box on roads that were far too damaged and narrow for the high amount of traffic using them and we arrived in Ujire, our final destination.



Ujire is a small town consisting of pretty much a fork in the road with numerous shops and a couple of veggie restaurants fighting for space. Although theres only two restaurants from which to pick the menu is extensive and with the help of my guides I've had delicious food so far.



The accomodation is fairly basic but everything that is needed except storage space (4 of us are currently sharing and theres no cupboards, wardrobes, etc) and a shower, instead we use a bucket of freezing cold water. Theres also no western toilet in the whole town and the quads are taking some real punishment.



Upon arrival we were asked to look at various projects that were available for us. Rather than the stove project which I expected to be looking at, I am now looking into the potential for wind turbines to back up solar electricity generation by taking wind speed measurements at various potential sites and also low cost solar cooking stoves. Rushil the other EWB volunteer is looking into solar crop drying.



Although we didnt expect these projects, Mr Narayan who is coordinating this SELCO branch is very flexible as to what we want to do and the options are numerous and diverse so we both found something to suit our tastes.

From rainy India, goodbye

Pre-Departure: Nerves, Excitement and Expectations

This summer I'll be working in Ujire, India (near Bangalore) for two months. The organisation that I'm working with is called SELCO. They are a profit making enterprise set up to target energy provision for poor Indian communities and won an Ashden Award for their work in 2007 (http://www.ashdenawards.org/finalists_2007).

I'll be working on a number of projects including:
1. Household cookstoves which reduce levels of indoor smoke, a big killer due to respiratory problems
2. Small scale wind turbines to backup solar electricity provision
3. Evaporative cooling of houses.

The nerves and excitement are building as I start to finalise my flights, visa's and plans. The opportunity to not only live in a completely different culture but to work within it and to hopefully have some impact on peoples quality of life is undescribable.

In addition to the excitement is an inevitable sense of fear of not meeting expectations which I think is inevitable on any such project. I'm fresh out of uni with little practical experience. Sometimes I ask what I can give to a company who are already doing a fantastic job.

What reassures me is that this feeling is natural to all people on such projects and in many other walks of life. Graduates who start a new job in the UK have the same fears but quickly mould to the task and so can I.

I think this will be the most challenging thing I've ever done but also the most rewarding and inspiring.

I can't wait to start!!!