Other than the superficial damages, however, I failed to realize the harms that this sewage exposure might cause. As we met with residents from this community, we went through our usual barrage of questions. Struck by my experience, I guided our questions towards sanitation. How did they deal with the sewage? How did they clean it from their homes and environment? Simple and reasonable questions in my mind but to our hosts, this was met with confusion. “The sewage only comes up when it rains and then it goes away!” Goes away? How could the contaminants disappear? The slew of residual bacteria must wreak havoc on their food and water I thought. Asking more follow up questions, I hoped I would hear more about how they purified their water and utensils, killing the contaminants from the exposure, but I was met with the answer I feared. “We just wait for the sewage to settle and drink the clear water from the top!”
A harsh realization, but one that helped shaped my future work in Ladakh. Delving into our community interactions, it was easy to see that water issues plagued many rural and developing communities in India, but the more surprising element was the reasoning behind it. Though most people we met knew that boiling water could help remove contaminants, most held on to the age-old notion that their water was already pure. Sure, they could purify it, but why clean something that is already clean? Dumbfounded, my team and I realized that we needed to help people realize that their water was dirty if we had any hope of improving their access to clean water. With this goal in mind, we have been focusing on developing a quick litmus test that would turn red in the presence of contaminants, serving as a visual encouragement for purifying their water. Water continues to be a main issue in many rural communities in India, but this experience has really helped me and my cohort understand that it may not always be due to a simple lack of access. As a culture, we have grown accustomed to working on raising money and providing free things to people who lack resources, but this experience shows how doing so might just end up a colossal waste of money. Many consumers and communities struggle with basic issues, but unique manifestations. Rather than approaching problems with our fixed solution in mind, this experience has helped elucidate the importance of going directly to consumers and developing solutions for their needs instead of applying old solutions to new problems.
1 Comment
|
ArchivesCategories |