SITE VISIT

Our target population for this project is a colony far from the center of Hubli. The government originally developed it as a habitation for the poor and since that time it has been enormously neglected. The streets, the homes, and other areas of the town are completely dilapidated-- It is the by far the worst slum area we have seen yet.
We took the bus partway to the colony and had to get off to take a rickshaw to approach the desolate area. The four of us (3 USC team members + an Indian friend/translator) climbed out the rickshaw and looked around to be welcomed by intense stares. By the demeanor of the townspeople people, I immediately felt apprehensive. The four of us were a bit out of sorts as the rickshaw skirted away. There we stood in the mud as outsiders, in bewilderment of not knowing what direction to head next.
In a panic to move along and away from the townspeople I caught the attention of a curious little girl and asked her to point out the direction of the school. We headed down the street by her directions and started walking past more adults who seemed unapproachable. I whispered to the translator to explain our purpose in being there to anyone who asked…and as soon as possible. We needed to show the suspicious bystanders that we came in peace and were there to help them...Finally the wish was granted.
Within the moments that a few words were exchanged between the translator and group of young men, each one of the men’s faces relaxed. I stood in the back and breathed a sigh of relief. One of the men uncrossed his arms and pointed in the direction of the school saying something loudly, in an effort to allow other bystanders to loosen up as well.
From there we proceeded to walk down the muddy clay roads to locate the school of 580 students. On our way, watchful children followed us; many of them were pant-less running barefoot behind the group trying to keep up to see where we were going.
It was an experience in itself reaching the school but once we arrived we were immediately embraced. We were welcomed by open handshakes and smiles from the school’s Principal and Secretary who had seen us coming from a distance. They came out to the quad to greet us despite not knowing what our purpose was or why we had come to their school. I have an inkling that when they took notice of our fair skin from afar they believed something of great benefit them was coming their way.
As we began speaking with them about our idea, they continually nodded in agreement. It is hard to tell whether they were keenly interested in our aspirations or just the attention their students would be receiving from Americans, whatever purpose we were there for. From there we received a tour of the small six-classroom school. Except for the 7th Standard (or grade) all other children sat on worn mats on the floor. The school was much worse off than the one I had toured earlier in the week. After our tour and the discussion of our project, I asked the Principal if he had any further personal desires for his school. He answered me in his broken English, “Please, Please, bring us desks.” The feeling inside me must have been both an ache of sadness and yet a feeling of purpose. In comprehending his request, a small voice inside, said to me “done!” I was surprisingly confident that I could provide him with something that the school desperately needed though it was unrelated to our project. Desks are something that are easy to come by in the U.S. with a little fundraising, but sadly nearly impossible for a impoverished community such as this one to attain. I responded by speaking about the huge undertaking we would begin to accomplish this summer and that I promised to help him in the immediate future once I arrive back in the U.S.
Exiting the school grounds we all were beaming that our project would be underway much sooner than expected. The most surprising aspect about the small town was that by the time we reached the entry road again to find ourselves a rickshaw home, many of the once standoffish people were smiling and saying hello. I was in disbelief as I thought to myself; both positive and negative word must spread fast in this community.
This element, characteristic of many small towns, will only work to our advantage as we proceed ahead with our educational workshops in the primary school. The students will have a large impact in spreading the word within their homes and neighborhood. We hope that when we start distributing the water filters and raising awareness about waterborne diseases, parents will listen to their kids and neighbors will talk. As many call it here, it is “mouth marketing” that will greatly help cultivate both the enthusiasm for our program and the acceptance of our water filtration system. We hope that within the initial months of implementing our project the townspeople will become more and more accepting of our work and welcome us into their homes to conduct monthly surveys. From this experience I learned that it is going to take strong initiative to get the program off the ground but also the united support of the townspeople to make the project a success.