View from a Volunteer Team Leader: Now onto Nicaragua, Las Penitas to be exact.

View from a Volunteer Team Leader: Now onto Nicaragua, Las Penitas to be exact.: With Rajasthan behind me, Although the memories of that project are still so vivid in my mind, I move onto the next one which will be a hom...

Now onto Nicaragua, Las Penitas to be exact.

With Rajasthan behind me, Although the memories of that project are still so vivid in my mind, I move onto the next one which will be a home building project for The Fuller Center for Housing.

I am currently building a new team of intrepid adventurers to go with me to Las Penitas. That is near Leon in Nicaragua. Situated on the coast, it is apparently a surfing area but not being a surfer I doubt that will enter my consciousness at all. It is also a fishing area and most of the local inhabitants are employed on a temporary basis in the fishing industry. 

 

We are not talking great big trawlers here, we are talking small boats with a couple of guys and a net going way out to sea at night and catching whatever they can. Their market is the local restaurants and villagers that can afford a bit of fish now and again. But the guys who risk their lives to catch these fish are not the ones selling them, that would be the chap who owns the boat. And as you would assume he keeps the lions share of the booty.

Some men go away to work in neighboring countries or into the coffee plantations to earn money and return home to their families once every 3 or 4 months. To say the least, they don't earn a great deal, maybe enough to scratch by and keep food on the table if they are lucky. What they really struggle to do is keep a roof over the families head. Mostly they live in shacks made from corn stalks with plastic sheeting stretched over to keep out the rain. What it doesn't keep out is the cold, the damp, the disease, the mites and bugs that live in the corn stalk and mud floor. All those sorts of things that endanger the children's health.

They cook on open fires. You need to read my blog on Guatemala to understand what that does to the health of the family. I just hope that at some point we can also start to install eco-stoves here, but at the moment there is not a manufacturing facility nearby. Who knows maybe another project to be looked into.

So what am I doing to encourage new team members to join me?. Whilst the Fuller Center has the trip details posted on its web site, I have been mailing my many many followers who receive email updates about upcoming trips, contacting previous team members and advertising wherever I can for free or a negligible sum. Last year I advertised on a UK website called Gumtree and received a load of enquiries which amounted to nothing. I realized I had not worded the add in such a way as to explain exactly what I was looking for. I thought I would give it another go this year and make sure I worded it properly. Whilst the response has been minimal, it has been quality, in fact one person signed up, that makes it all worthwhile on its own. But I have had another call which also sounds as though it will materialize into a new recruit. Fingers crossed. I have also had great results from friends on Facebook sharing my post and their friends sharing so as to spread the word. 

I am currently at the 50% mark with members from the US Canada and the UK. Also plenty of people hovering on the outskirts of commitment. And still plenty of time to go before cut off.

After I finished in Guatemala last August, I traveled to Nicaragua to meet the team of dedicated "Fuller" guys and girls who hold it all together down there. They are an amazing team and I am so looking forward to working with them in November. They took me out to the project area to see exactly what they had been doing to date and what was still required I met families who had already received the benefit of a Fuller home and those who were still waiting. It didn't take much for me to commit to a project there. The need is so great.

So what can you do to help? Spread the word for me, tell everyone to visit my page at the following address and hey.... why not get involved yourself..... now that's a radical thought

http://fullercenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Ray-Fowell-Nicaragua-Nov.-16-2.pdf 

Or drop me an email to rayfowell@gmail.com 

That's it for now. More updates to follow soon.

A Fuller Center House in Las Penitas

View from a Volunteer Team Leader: Update on Rajasthan project, It's finished

View from a Volunteer Team Leader: Update on Rajasthan project, It's finished: Its been 3 weeks since we left the village of Bargaton Ka Kheda in Rajasthan having helped the local villagers construct their sub surface ...

Update on Rajasthan project, It's finished

Its been 3 weeks since we left the village of Bargaton Ka Kheda in Rajasthan having helped the local villagers construct their sub surface dam. Returning home is always difficult, thoughts are still with the people left behind. Especially when the job we went there to do was not completed before we left.

Of course I understand that the locals are capable of finishing it, I know that they are driven to finish it by their need for water. But such a bond is formed when working so close with so many people that it is hard to return to the real world (as we call it), I'm not sure what is so real about it other than it is our real, it is what we are used to and the way we choose to live our lives.

I have been doing this for 11 years now and it is always the same, There is a formula that I sometimes discuss with team members before they return home. Its called the "four stages of transition". I first came across this when working with Habitat for Humanity. Fun, Flight, Fight, Fit.

I will put it at the end of this blog if you are interested.

Anyway, even after 11 years it still affects me. And one of the causes of this is the fact that we leave a project unfinished and sometimes we never get to see or hear the end result, we just have to assume that all went well and the house or school or in this case the dam get finished.

Well I can tell you that this time the dam went from: This..

To This.. During our time in the village

It may not look much but, if you read my previous blog you will understand just how much hard work went into achieving this result. The incredible team I had with me, along with the villagers, men women and children all worked in 45-50 degree heat, heaving rocks, digging for water and sand, mixing concrete and more. But you are right, it doesn't look much.

But just look at it now!!!!!

In just 3 weeks the villagers turned it into a fully working

Beautifully finished

Amazing structure .

From the above picture you can see that the central level is where we got it up to before leaving. The villagers completed the project by raising the side wings, constructing the run off on the backside and put the concrete surface finish in place. Even decorating it with the basket weave pattern. The run off is there to stop the water flow undermining the dam as it flows over the top. 

I am amazed at how quickly the villagers finished this, Makes me wonder how much faster they would have completed it had we not been there. But I'm sure we helped in some small way even if it was only to brighten their day. 

I am also extremely pleased that our partner Sahyog Sansthan sent these pictures so that the team members can see the result of their efforts. Now all we need is to see it full after the monsoons have passed.

So once again my thanks go to the team and my praise to the villagers for not only putting up with our interference but for completing such an amazing structure in such a short time without all the modern machinery that we take for granted.

I salute you

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Four stages of re-entry 

One helpful tool to understand people‘s responses to the new environment and culture is the U-curve developed by Lysgaard in 1955. It defines the four emotional stages team members may go through following an overseas volunteer trip. 

Fun 

Immediately following the trip team members are on an emotional high. Visions of home, hot showers, and hamburgers may be unrealistically glorified, but it‘s HOME! 

Fascination, appreciation and excitement over home, people and their environment. 

Feelings of rejuvenation and being fulfilled by their work. 

They are in the limelight, reliving the experience through videos, slides and non-stop stories. 

Flight 

Before long the high begins to wane and team members: 

Begin experiencing reverse culture shock. 

Realize that life is relatively unchanged. 

Notice that people ask sincere questions, but don‘t linger long enough to hear the whole story. 

Begin to distance themselves emotionally/physically. 

Become frustrated, confused or irritated. 

Daydream of host country, team and host community. 

Have trouble readjusting to the fast pace, individualism and affluence of home. 

Begin to feel disappointment. 

Fight 

The flight stage often is followed by the desire to lash out. Team members: 

Feel undefined anger at affluence and apathy toward the people around them. 

Return with more compassion, a more tender conscience and bigger world view. 

Feel spiritually superior. 

Fit 

The final stage is returning to reality, but not quite the way things were before the experience. Team members: 

Begin to return to tolerance, understanding and creativity. 

Realize that they have choices once the emotional high has waned. 

Determine changes they want to make and acknowledge the things they cannot change. 

Accept affluence but commit to a simpler lifestyle. 

Accept indifference but keep the fire burning by seeking ways to serve.

A run out with the Robin Hood Army in New Delhi India

The Robin Hood Army is an amazing organisation that only came into being in August 2014. Started by a couple of youngsters in 1 city with 6 Robins. It is a volunteer based organization that works to get surplus food from restaurants across to the less fortunate people.

By December 2015 they had 2000 Robins in 21 cities. That is monumental by any standards. They currently have 3500 Robins and have served over 51143 people in 23 cities.

On my last night in Delhi I had the privilege of joining a Chapter of Robins at Nehru Place New Delhi for their Sunday evening run. I joined a group of people meeting on the lawn outside the Metro Station. I had previously communicated with them via email and was pleased to locate Symantak De who informed the group of the evenings plans.

We would place as many of the group in the available cars and head out to a restaurant who regularly packs up a vast amount of hot prepared food ready for collection. No money changes hands as these restaurants join willingly to help the underprivileged people of the city.

We then drove to a location outside the local hospital, one of the largest in Delhi. Now as you will know, I have worked in some very poor and deprived parts of Delhi, but I had never come across the site that was now before my eyes. 

There were people on mats, lining the pavement because there were either no beds available in the hospital or they could not afford the fees. This is so unacceptable on so many levels.

A queue quickly formed as the car boot was opened and the Robins commenced their first distribution for the evening. Whilst two members distributed the food others kept the line in check.  After a while and when the food stocks where running down, a halt was called to the distribution. There were still some people who didn't get a share, but this is always the case as there are more hungry people than there is food. Hopefully they will get their share on the next run.

We then moved off down the street to re-group. The remaining food was distributed among the cars and the volunteers split into groups and given a location to head to. I and 4 other volunteers headed off to a large intersection and flyover under which a few homeless families were living.
  
                                        

We took the bags of rice and dhal from the car and walked into the homeless area to be greeted by smiles and open arms by young and old alike. It is not surprising they were happy to see us as this may be the only hot food they will have all week.

My time with the RHA was short, but it certainly impressed upon me, not only the need for more support both in the volunteer sector but also the generosity of restaurant owners. The large chain restaurants will not support this group. With them it is all about $$$$. It is the small independent restaurants that make this possible and my heartfelt thanks goes out to them  because without them, these food runs would not happen. This is not waste food the RHA is distributing, it is fresh cooked especially for them by people who see the need and have a caring heart.

The RHA is a very decentralised organization and does not accept monetary contributions- they just need your time. http://robinhoodarmy.com/

View from a Volunteer Team Leader: Water Harvesting Project Rajasthan May 2016

View from a Volunteer Team Leader: Water Harvesting Project Rajasthan May 2016: Developing World Connections. Udaipur Rajasthan India May 2016 When Developing World Connections offered me the opportunity to lead a tea...

Water Harvesting Project Rajasthan May 2016

Developing World Connections. Udaipur Rajasthan India May 2016

When Developing World Connections offered me the opportunity to lead a team to Bhindar Rajasthan, I leaped at the chance of returning to India. I had been there many times before helping home owners build a new life with a solid roof over their heads. But this project was different.

It was not house building for one or two families but building a sub-surface dam for a whole village. A what! I here you ask, and quite rightly as that was my initial reaction. Thanks to the wonders of Google it didn't take long for me to find out exactly what I had let myself and my team in for. My next step was to check out the information provided by the DWC in-country partner Sahyog Sansthan.

The task seemed daunting compared to my previous experiences, but I love a challenge. I have to admit that the thought of digging and mixing concrete for two weeks did not sound appealing and I thought it would be a hard sell to the team. But I think the challenge and the benefits this project would have for the village,  outweighed any doubts we as a team may have had.

Then the day arrived for us to be driven to the village from our hotel, A bonus I must admit as the hotel was an old Palace run by a 21st generation family member of the original owner. We are not used to such luxury on these projects.

As the two 4x4 jeeps made their way out of Bhindar towards the village of Bargatua Kella it became apparent that water was a substance these lands had not seen for a long time. Dry arid fields spread out from the dirt track in all directions. The occasional block built home dotted along the roadside. Water Buffalo, Cows and the occasional dog all looking thin and malnourished, the bones of a dead Water Buffalo lay at the side of the track having been picked clean by anything that could gain nourishment from its remains.

We moved on towards the village and passed a dam that had been built by a previous team. It looked impressive sitting there in the dry gully formed by previous monsoons. Last year the monsoon was very poor and there was not enough water to refill the wells let alone irrigate the land. The people in this area rely on their crop to survive. There is rarely any surplus to take to market. Without the crop they have nothing to eat. After a good monsoon season they may, if lucky, get two crops in a year. For the past two years they have only managed one.  

The team were silent as we approached the village, both from the effects of seeing first hand the conditions in which the villagers live and also with the prospect of starting the first days work. On arrival at the work site, a dry river bed running past the village of 187 occupants, we were greeted by many of them and welcomed to a ceremony under a brightly coloured awning set beneath a tree offering shade in the 40c heat

                                       

Following introductions and having Marigold garlands placed around our necks, friendship ribbons tied to our wrists, drums beaten and much shaking of hands, we made our way to the work site for our first view of the task ahead.

To our amazement, the foundation trench had already been dug by a JCB (back hoe) and I could see why. If we had to dig it by hand we may just have finished it in the two weeks we had to complete our build. It was 2 meters deep and about one and a half meters wide. There were piles of rocks of various sizes and sand dug by the women of the village piled ready for the making of concrete mortar.

So the project begins, the team divided up into groups, some moving sand to the mortar mixing area, some moving rocks and others passing the mortar in pans through the line and out to the masons who were placing and rocks and filling in the gaps.

Mixing the mortar was a hot and energy consuming task, and it was continuous. As one pile was finished another was being started. The water supply for this purpose was extracted from the bottom of the foundation which had hit the water table. It was extracted by tin cans and water carrying pots and then tipped into two 45 gallon plastic drums. 

This process continued throughout the time we were there. The dam grew in height and width each day as more mortar and more rocks where placed in position. The accuracy checked by the mason, a village elder. In fact everybody on site (except the team of course) were a member of the village. 

The women who worked tirelessly digging and carrying sand,.The men moving and breaking rocks,

The young girls Lila and Kusum passing pans full of heavy mortar down the line and all the time smiling and laughing.

Temperatures were rising throughout the week, hitting 45c by the weekend. The team worked throughout and without complaint. In fact nobody complained about repetitive work or the conditions, we all took it in our stride. There was a job to do, we needed to get it done.

During the morning break, One of the villagers (Suresh) made chai over an open fire under the shade of the tree. 

The team loved it so much that we regularly got hijacked by villagers and had to visit their homes for chai. I believe it became a competition between them as to who could get us into their home before and after work. As we drove along the dirt track in the mornings we would find a villager waiting to direct us into their home. And when we finished for the day there would be an invitation waiting for us at another house.

The weekend came and the team took off for Udaipur on a little R&R visiting the largest fresh water lake in Asia and sight seeing in the old town.

We also took in a Bollywood movie, well you just have to when in India. Returning Sunday evening to our wonderful hotel. I happened to mention to Parthvi (the 21st generation manager) that the building reminded me of the “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (those who have seen the films will understand). She in turn explained that the hotel used in the film was not to far away. So on an evening during our second week myself and another team member accompanied by Parthvi visited the hotel and received a guided tour and detailed explanation of the making of the films.

Monday came and we continued mixing, moving, lifting and laughing. More chai, and more heat. By midweek the temperatures were hitting 50c. Did this slow down the project? Not at all. In hindsight I am not sure how we all coped with that, but as each day went by the dam grew in stature and without complaint form anyone

On the Wednesday we ran out of water for mixing the mortar. We had dug two additional holes to try and obtain water as the foundation was by now complete and what water there was, was no longer accessible.

Whilst the two extra holes produced a small amount, they eventually ran dry. By the next morning there was enough to keep us going for a few hours.

A tanker had been ordered to provide enough to complete the project but this had not arrived by the time we left site for the last time.

One evening during the second week we were invited to revisit the village for a cultural evening. The whole village turned out and enthralled us with with music, songs and dancing. 

On another occasion we stopped at a nearby village to be invited to the Marriage celebrations of a young couple. Following congratulations and of course Chai, we continued with our journey home.

         

                                                    

We also visited another water harvesting project funded by a UK organisation Wells for India. Dry wall irrigation and another sub-surface dam. This land is so reliant on the monsoon for its water that the ingenious methods they have developed to harvest and retain the rainfall are incredible. They need to replenish their wells as well as irrigate their land. Without these structures, the water would would sweep down the valley washing away topsoil and not actually penetrating the earth deep enough to be of use for crop growing.

With these dams in place, the water is held back long enough to penetrate the ground and raise the water level without reducing the effect further down the line. It helps refill the wells which are currently dry, hopefully with enough water to last until the monsoons come again. It will also help the farmers with a second crop per year.

By the time we were due to leave, the dam was up to height but still had the wing wall and the top sides  to be built. This will take 15 days of hard labour by the villagers and we know they will complete because it means so much to them.

On our last day the whole village turned out to celebrate with us. They danced, sang songs and made speeches, prepared food and fed everyone including ourselves. 

We in turn thanked them for their hospitality and wished them well for the future and hopes of a good monsoon. 

When we started out with this project we had no idea what we were getting into. But now we are much more aware of the plight of the farmers in Rajasthan. We understand more about their needs and their suffering because of the lack of water. 

When we ran out of water to mix mortar, it was a hammer blow that made us realise how much we take water for granted here in the west. Driving across the dry landscape watching a dust devil twist across the work site lifting a column of dry dust high into the air, seeing animals made of just skin and bone. It enforces the need for more help in this area.

Without this Developing World Connections team, this project would not have happened. The donation content paid by each team member funded this project. Unlike some organisations who pool the funds to support its projects DWC actually funds the whole project through direct donation to cover the costs. These village farmers would not have had their sub-surface dam if it was not for DWC and the team of volunteers who made it happen. I, as their team leader applaud them for their generosity and hard work in giving their time and money to make this project a success.

Our thoughts are with the people of Bargatua Kella and all those effected by the lack of water in Rajasthan and hope this years monsoon is a monster.

There are more photographs of the complete project available on my Picasa web site. This is only a brief synopsis of the project and to tell the story in full would require a book and a good author, that person is not me. But I will always be happy to bore you with tales from the trip should we meet in person.

#developingworldconnections #waterharvesting #rajasthan #volenteering #sahyog