Hi all

I know there hasn’t seem to be an update on this blog since like July 5th, but there’s a reason. From July 5th until like August 1st, we were working at max capacity everyday with the kids and getting the puppet show on the road. It was an unbelievable experience that I cannot even begin describing in words. So I won’t, I’ll do it with pictures. But before that, if you are wondering what we were able to do in India with our NGO Agastya. These puppet shows dealt with issues of health, hygiene, and personal wellness (emphasizing the importance of the water cycle, the dangers of littering, and the dangers of deforestation). Teaching science through art is the way to go!!!

We worked with more than 15 Agastya teachers to start a drama club which auditioned more than 300 children over the course of three weeks. We cast 30 children from over 10 schools in the Hubli area to participate in the first production. As a result of 3 weeks of daily rehearsals, we presented the first play 4 times in four days. Twice in Hubli to audiences of over 300 people each time (700 total) and twice in Kuppam to audiences of over 100 (250 total). As the project continues today, a team of 5-10 Agastya teachers are staging the second play at the end of October with the participation of 30 more children and even larger audiences. Some of the footage from the puppet shows the kids put on in Hubli were posted on Karnataka television as well!

We have produced one finished video of the first play performance that will be distributed by the Agastya Mobile Labs (3 in Hubli alone) and presented throughout the Karnataka region at schools they visit everyday. Agastya has the potential to continue this distribution to more than 40 other Mobile Labs in the region. The video will also be uploaded to Agastya’s website, youtube, and other media sharing websites for viewers to share and learn from.

We came in not knowing much about puppetry and without having much experience, but we came out realizing that it wasn’t about puppetry at all– it was about immersing oneself in a completely different culture and relishing the amazing conversations, food, and friendships that last for a lifetime. Enjoy the pictures. If there’s anything I learned from India, it is that one should live their life without any expectations. I miss the kids so much. So much.

We’ll post the YouTube Video here when we are done with it.

In May, just one week before embarking on my India adventure, I expressed in a blog post the following:

“What excites me is the chance to pursue my life passion for creating meaningful change in the lives of others through social entrepreneurship.

Mostly however, what excites me most is knowing that when I write in this blog seven days after all is said and done, I will have gone on an adventure that profoundly changed who I am.”

Now August, just about two weeks after completing my India adventure, I am sitting here in the living room of my home in Honolulu, realizing these excitements fully manifested: meaningful change to others, profound change in myself.

Meaningful Change to Others

My team of “The Hubli Water and Health Project” came to India with the very broad mission of: improving the quality of drinking water and sanitation of local families through education and technology”. With India representing about one-third of the 1.6 million people dying from unsafe water and poor sanitation per year (90% of which are children under 5), we were compelled to seek meaningful change.

We accomplished this through three different initiatives: 1) Water and Health Education Program, 2) Household-Level Water Filter Distribution, 3) Community-Level Water Purification Plant.

Initiative #1: Water and Health Education Program

The first initiative represented the foundation that needed to be laid for anysuccess in improving the water situation. In most development projects, it is only through education (in this case, education about the necessity of clean water and proper sanitation) that communities could truly start eliminating bad habits, embracing personal responsibility, and taking initiative towards improving their circumstances.

In a nutshell, the Education Program aimed to educate primary (elementary) school children from low-income areas about clean water and sanitation through local college volunteer teachers. By influencing the open and developing minds of younger children, we hoped the Program could generate ripples of change emerging from the up-coming generation. Furthermore, by seeking college-aged volunteers, we aimed to empower the hearts of future leaders through opportunities to serve others.

With the curriculum already developed last summer, our team mainly focused on expanding the Program for larger impact. To do this, we successfully partnered with two colleges–Women’s College in Hubli and KIMS of Karnatak Univeristy in Dharwad–and connected their collective 30+ volunteers with six different primary schools. All in all, over the next 12 weeks, about 270 elementary students will learn 12 important lessons like properly washing their hands, how the water cycle works, how germs are spread, and why it is important to respect the environment.

Initiative #2: Household-Level Water Filter Distribution

The second initiative aimed at diffusing a proven yet simple water technology–an affordable household water filter–to as many families as possible. Thus, like most development projects, the biggest challenge was a marketing versus product one. The obstacle to overcome was diffusing a readily available and working technology in a way that ensured long-term and wide-spread adoption.

The highly effective water filter we sought to distribute removes sediment and kills water-borne bacteria through a gravity-fed ceramic filter infused with silver-ions. A single filter costs only USD $5-7 and can produce enough clean drinking and cooking water for a family of five for an entire year (~10,000L). After about one year, the ceramic filter can be replaced at a cost of just $1.

Initially, we thought we should establish a water filter kiosk that would be operated by a local entrepreneur. However we realized a much greater opportunity after an exploratory meeting with Chinyard, a microcredit NGO with an established network of over 3,000 self-help women groups throughout Karnataka. Chinyard was the perfect distribution solution: the organization had direct and immediate access to the right target consumers (poor families who suffer most from water contamination and women who are responsible for the house’s water supply), established credibility within communities, channels to distribute (bi-weekly SHG meetings), and capacity to provide payment plans for those who needed financial assistance. Chinyard was all-aboard in taking this new initiative of water filter distribution that would both improve health of their members and bring in profits.

To launch the initiative, we needed to test the demand, so we requested Chinyard to do product demos then generate a list of people interested in purchasing the filter. One week later, Chinyard presented us a stack of papers inscribed by 270+ names of eager consumers!

With demand secured, we were ready to assist Chinyard and provided them an interest-free loan to purchase 150 of the 270 filters through our project budget. The loan terms were lenient and repayment will be extremely easy for Chinyard. The ultimate aim will be for Chinyard to successfully handle this first order then use profits to build distribution to the rest of the market of tens of thousands of needy families. This certainly has the potential to be the innovative, scalable, and sustainable solution to distributing technology to the poorest of the poor: microcredit self-help group networks!

Initiative #3: Community-Level Water Purification Plant

This third initiative was the focus of most of my other blog posts. So rather than writing more, please have a read of those.

In a nutshell, we successfully installed a 1000 liter/hour reverse-osmosis water plant aimed to bring clean drinking water to 500 needy families in Gadag district. Furthermore, the plant projects to break-even within the next year and has the potential to generate enough profit to finance a new plant every five months. The pure water should begin flowing by August 25^th.

Profound Change in Myself

Yet, with all the change I helped bring to others, others helped bring even greater change to me. Namely, it was through selfless service to others that my self-understanding deepened. As the great Mahatma Ghandi, a dedicated Karma Yogi, said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.

I laid out some of my major life philosophies, or convictions, over a year ago when I established this blog. As convictions, based in reason but ultimately dependent on faith, both my heart and mind have only been fortified through this India adventure.

I am Lucky and with a Responsibility

Watching videos and reading articles about the needless suffering and unbelievably difficult lives of others worldwide was enough to develop this conviction. However, this summer I witnessed this suffering and difficulty first-hand in India.

From the disheveled beggar kids who tugged at my hands for rupees to the personal interactions with locals like: an overworked and underpaid bus driver getting schemed by fraudulent “business opportunities”, a high school dropout teen stuck in low-caste work of cleaning tables for 15 cents/hour at the canteen, and the heartbroken college girl forcefully separated from her true love then arranged to marry an unlikable man and denied her professional dreams.

In result, my belief that my life is abundantly blessed has only deepened, and the luminous fire that drives me to help others only burns brighter.

Furthermore, even as “my” accomplishments grow grander, my humility only grows truer. More and more, I see my truly minute existence within the expansive web of causes and effects. More and more, I recognize that there are simply too many influences that I am lucky to have–people, experiences, opportunities–to ever have room for ego.

We are Equal

As human beings, I believe we all share a fundamental equality based on our inherent human dignity. This human dignity comes from my deepening spiritual belief that every person possesses something beyond the

physical, something Infinite, something divine. As the Bhagavad Gita states, “They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them”. The wise recognize the divine which pervades all people and things. The wise can see the wonderful oneness of reality and can see beyond the illusion of separateness.

Be Myself - Listen to my Heart

Yet, such metaphysical comprehensions of our interconnectedness and the existence of the divine, only compel my mind through logic to believe in equality. Ultimately, believing comes down to being myself through listening to my compassionate heart.

Working tirelessly in a foreign land for complete strangers while also immersing myself in ancient Hindu and Buddhist wisdom this summer, I witnessed and learned about the power of compassion. Compassion supports our fundamental equality and applies universally to every single being. Where there is a violation to someone’s basic human rights, our heart will alert us, and compassion will seek change. My compassion sought to unlock the shackles of poverty that deny the impoverished their right to freedom. My small compassionate contribution was to help as many people in Karnataka, India by eradicating a major contributing factor to their poverty: dirty water.

My Heartfelt Thanks

I hope you made it this far, and if you did congratulations, this is a long post!

For in conclusion, I wanted to send my sincerest thanks to everyone who has followed this blog and traveled beside me on this amazing India adventure over the past three months. Your encouraging comments definitely helped fuel the fire throughout. Simply knowing I had a readership pushed me to authentically share this experience, and to make sure I actually had a good experience to share! My heartfelt gratitude goes out to each and every one of you. Namaskara and Pure Aloha.

-Bronson

A Pictorial Update - the past two days (Sunday/Monday) in images

Reviewing and negotiating the terms of the tripartite agreement. Concluded to sell @ 15 paise/L for school-children, @ 20 paise/L for below-poverty line card holders, @ 100 paise/L for non-below-poverty line card holders. The brand name chosen as : “Shuddhodaka” (”Pure Water”) sold by the “EPGL-KNS Foundation Karnataka Model” water system.

A done deal! Agreement signed between EPGL (Deepinder), KNS Foundation (Swami Ji), and Financial Funder (myself, as representative)

About 20 community leaders were invited and introduced to the project, including people who would help with implementation (construction, electricity), and individuals who could play crucial roles in future expansion throughoutGadag. Picture shows us surveying the compound for proper placement of the water plant.

Group photo - amazing momentum behind the water plant from the get-go!

After Gadag, Deepinder, Jabashetti, and I drove about 60km to Kukanoor, Koppal to explore another opportunity to plant a reverse-osmosis system in this community suffering from a flurosis problem. Interest was very high - the 2nd community-based R/O system of Karnataka may not be very far away!

Breaking ground - Day One of construction: excavating the ground to lay the foundation for the plant housing

Alex, Nina, and I were invited to lunch by a beautiful family who literally live just three minutes away from the water plant. As an above-poverty line family, their living conditions were visibly much better than their BPL neighbors throughout the community. And yes, if you did not notice, I am holding a baby squirrel in my hand.

Progress of the excavation by early afternoon. This lone construction worker blew me away with his endurance and strength, working hour after hour, while I exhausted after just 30 minutes… Every person is vital to the water plant, from planning to implementation, start to finish.

It’s mind-boggling. Just 5 weeks ago, I was first introduced to Deepinder Mohan, CEO of the R/O manufacturing company Environment Planning Group Limited, over e-mail. Tomorrow, I will be spending the entire day with him face-to-face, experiencing first-hand the transformation of an opportunity–to bring clean drinking water to a needy community in India–into reality.

In convenient bullet-form, here is what has happened in the past eight days (since the last post):

• Deepinder Commits to Visit : after reading the previous blog post, Deepinder booked his plane and train rides to travel from Ahmedabad to Gadag (16 hours one-way!). Both a huge financial and time expense, Deepinder decided to take the leap of a faith (financial funding was not yet 100% secured), fully inspired and committed to see our work to its completion.

• Financial Funding Secured! : my personal network stepped-up big time - and it happened to be my family–my parents–whom were willing to provide the interest-free loan for $6K to purchase the plant. Getting the money in was tedious and difficult because of technical difficulties (constant e-mails/calls to customer service, calls in the middle of the night from my parents from 14.5 timezones away). With a little persistence, we struggled together and got the money in safely, a family effort in the name of philanthropy!

• Terms of Agreement Created : Deepinder, Jabashetti, and I drafted, negotiated, and redrafted a tripartite memorandum of understanding. Rules and roles established, all players are in the game and ready to play.

• Machine Assembled and Shipped : the machine was assembled in two days time, boarded on a truck, and will make its four day journey South.

And, here are the plans for the next eight days, a furious sprint to the finish line:

• All-Day Meetings and Visits: all parties–KNS Foundation (Swamiji and Jabashetti), EPGL (Deepinder), and Financial Funder (me, representing my parents)–will be coming together to discuss details, sign the agreement, and prepare for implementation. Additionally, we have organized a meeting in Kukanoor, a village 60km East of Gadag, to discuss an opportunity with potential key players to address their water needs.

• Commence Plant Housing Construction: the structure for the water plant will begin being built on Monday, and be completed by Thursday.

• Installation of Water Plant: two technicians will be traveling by train from Ahmedabad to Gadag to install the plant and train the operator on Wednesday/Thursday.

• Water Plant Initiated! : if all goes according to plan, the plant will be operational just seven days from now. The day I depart from India.

-Bronson

Sitting in the front seat of a white government issued SUV, I felt sick to my stomach. Two of my teammates sat behind me joking with Dr. H, a well connected health official, as we rumbled between two South Indian villages. It felt like something out of a movie – foreigners wearing sunglasses arriving to a host of curious looks. I tried hard to put aside the misgivings I had for the time being. At each stop we were graciously accommodated - bodies whirling around us preparing tea as doctors dropped everything to answer our questions. Yet, it felt far from traditional Indian hospitality.

Maybe it was the looks in their eyes, or the urgency with which they moved, but it quickly became clear that the staff was afraid of something. Behind us our host barked orders, apparently using our visit as an opportunity for an inspection of the facility. I bit my tongue as the janitor hung his head- presumably being told in Kannada that the floor was not clean enough. Eventually we received news that a baby had been delivered earlier that morning and Dr. H shepherded us into a makeshift recovery room.

The new mother laid with her child as her family watched us from neighboring beds. Dr. H paced around asking questions and noting the quality of the room. Our eyes drifted to the squirming hours old baby. My heart sank when our curiosity was noted and we were prompted to touch the newborn. Here we were on what should be one of the new family’s proudest and happiest days – strangers barging in and being asked to treat their child like a hands-on experiment. My discomfort was visible, but our host insisted. I eventually touched the poor thing’s head and hustled out of the room. Dr. H teased me and we moved on with our day.

I couldn’t put the experience behind me. Images of the day kept flashing through my head- the vacant looks on the faces of patients in the crowded waiting room as the doctor left his post to meet us, the embarrassment of another clinic’s staff when Dr. H pointed out a error in their tabulation of the month’s deliveries, and my silence throughout the whole ordeal. I had come to India to help people, but had I really spent the day doing the opposite?

That feeling stuck with me for longer than I expected. While the three of us had spent the day with Dr. H, one of our team members stayed back in Hubli to troubleshoot our technology and do other some other work. Over the past week our team had researched something called Samastha, a HIV/AIDS program funded by USAID and an organization called KHPT that our NGO was responsible for implementing in Dharwad District. Eager to gain a perspective on the finer details and goals of the program we decided to email two contacts listed on a PDF document we had found online. The responsibility of writing the email fell to Jon as we toured the clinics.

The email read:

Hi Ms. Shankar and Mr. Gurnani,

My name is Jonathan Goldford and I am part of a team from the University of Southern California. As a group of four we are working with the Desphande Foundation to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Samastha project at BCT in Dharwad. To do this, we are implementing a simple SMS-based healthcare communications network using software called FrontlineSMS.

Once we have completed the project we hope to be able to scale it to each of the other NGO’s in the Samastha project. It would be great if we could set up a phone call with you to discuss our project and the potential to work with the other NGOs in the future. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you both.

As we later found out, the message was a textbook error for several reasons. First, we had unintentionally reached out to two very high up officials. Despite the relative ease of obtaining their contact information we were later told, “People don’t just email them.” The best description of communication in India I have heard since is that in this country things are “well stratified, well channelized”. The status of the two individuals made the informal tone and greeting of “Hi” unacceptable. Worst of all, we had used the terms “efficiency and effectiveness” – two words thrown around American business communication that had been misunderstood in this instance to mean we were calling their program inefficient and ineffective.

The message would later prove to be a bold, but brash gesture. The introduction we were trying to make for ourselves was independently made by a Deshpande Foundation program officer the very next day. When he received a call later that afternoon he assumed it was in response to his request for a meeting, but instead it was to admonish him for our communication. It quickly became clear that we had made a mistake that jeopardized not only our project, but our relationships with the Foundation and our partner NGO as well.

The next day the possible consequences were presented as such by our mentor, Rahul Brown:

• You will be spending the remainder of your vacation in America
• You will be reassigned to another project
• You may be able to salvage your project with another NGO, but you will need to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Oh, and we were told that it was more than likely that our partner NGO would lose its funding from the organization we had contacted. Our emotions at the time were many – disbelief that a harmless email could cause such damage, frustration that we ourselves were unable to do anything to rectify our actions (we were put on “communications lockdown” and referred to as “grounded”), and fear that the friendly staff we had grown to know would be out of the job.

Yet, today our project continues. We enjoy a healthy relationship with administrators at KHPT (the organization we emailed). In fact, we met with one administrator today to make an introduction to EXPAND our project in the future and another requested a PowerPoint of ours yesterday to take to a meeting in Bangalore. So how did we get from the dire straits described above to where we are now? The short answer is, I don’t know. The apologies we showered on the affected parties were laughed off, administrators whose relationships we had supposedly strained behaved like old friends, and after a long lay-off our project emerged stronger with important people supporting it. The full story involving exactly who reacted and in what way, and other critical details have not been shared with us and likely never will.

I still think about the incident amidst our now demanding project’s activities. New information emerges every day and with it new theories – for instance, that our affiliation with a US university combined with the American government’s funding had led some to believe we were contracted to evaluate their program without their knowledge or consent. Most read the text of the email and can’t believe our stories – a high-up staff member at Deshpande even told me recently that he thought it was a good email. Most often I think about the ubiquitous Samastha program banners. In small print beneath the USAID logo it says, “From the American People.” Wasn’t that our intention as well? Where had I gone wrong? Where had we all gone wrong?

In the end, I’ve given up explanations in favor of something Gandhi says in his autobiography:

“Numerous examples have convinced me that God ultimately saves him whose motive is pure.”

- Dan