1Well Road Trip – India ‘08

by Dan Morrison

Friday November 14, 2008 at 5:51am, EST

Greetings from Ahmedabad, India! Over the next two weeks, I will be traveling with the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), 1Well’s field partner in India, through the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Last night, my curry abstinence ended at my favorite local restaurant and it was great to see the guys at the Hotel Pinnacle. This morning starts with a full face and head shave at the barbershop down the street and then off to meetings with SEWA.

Ahmedabad is our hub but we spend most of our time in the surrounding districts visiting current and potential partner villages. A typical day is waking up early, driving 3-4 hours, sitting down with village members to listen to their current projects and plans, visiting project sites, driving another 2-3 hours to the next village, repeating above activities, then retiring to one of SEWA’s village offices or someone’s home to have dinner, debrief, get some sleep, and start all over again the next morning.

Over the next two weeks, I look forward to sharing stories, updates, photos, videos and messages from 1Well’s partner villages. Our trip is about 1/3 completed projects, 1/3 projects under construction, and 1/3 scouting new projects. Special thanks to , 1Well’s Project Development Associate, for making this trip possible.

Here is an overview of the trip:

November 10: Ahmedabad
Today, I will be staying in Ahmedabad to visit two critical 1Well projects – Victims of the July 2008 Bombs and Hamare bachche (Our Children). I will update you on each of these projects after my visit, but I do want to thank all of you who gave graciously to the Bomb victims. This was not a “typical” 1Well project, but your support helped the lives of families torn apart by these awful events. Hamare Bachche is an education and trauma-counseling program SEWA established for children that lost one or both partners in the 2002 communal riots. I want to give a quick shout out to the students of Lyons Township High School and teachers Ann Dudek and Nicole Gallicchio – thank you for the pen pal letters. We will be sharing them with the Hamare Bachche students today.

November 11 – 14: Kutch
Monday night we take off for the 8+ hour overnight drive to Kutch. On Tuesday, I am excited to visit Kapurashi Village. Kate and John raised $9,000 through a Chili Fest in Palos Heights, IL on October 5, 2008 for Kapurashi’s water and sanitation facilities – wells, toilets, roof rainwater harvesting tanks, and other projects to increase the moisture and quality of the soil. This is 1Well’s largest project to day and a great model for future SVCs.

On Wednesday, we are in Sonalnagar to discuss a site for a biogas plant. We thank the Environmental Defense Fund for pushing us to expand our Clean Energy for the Poor initiative. Keep your eye out for the Sonalnagar bio gas project and the 1Well Holiday Program.

On Thursday and Friday, we will be making stops in Vigodi, Guher, and Nakhatrana Villages. Guher has partnered with CareerBuilder.com for build basic water and sanitation facilities (wells, toilets, etc.). CareerBuilder.com has already funded $4,500 of $9,000 to begin this critical work.

November 15 – 16: Mehasana
It is back to Ahmedabad, but then off Saturday morning to Mehasana where we will visit Della, Vadu, Makebpura, and Ganeshpura. Della has partnered with Neel and his family to fund a well, roof rainwater harvesting tanks, etc.

November 17 – 18: Surendranagar
Like parents that never choose favorites, all 1Well projects are equally important, but in many ways, Monday and Tuesday are getting back to 1Well’s roots. It was at SEWA’s district office in Surendranagar that 1Well was born after a woman from Vachharajpur told me about their need for a well. This is also a special trip because we are visiting Jogad Village, which has partnered with Ariadne to provide solar lanterns to the Salt Pan workers that live in temporary shelter for six to eight months of the year (keep an eye out for the blog post on the Salt Pan Workers). I also look forward to seeing our friends from Mithagodha and visiting Sedla, where Matt and Dana have already helped fund a check dam and are now funding a Sedla’s childcare center. We will also have the pleasure of meeting the village of Nagwada.

November 19: Anand
On Wednesday, we will visit Vera and Borsad in the Anand District near Ahmedabad. Vera has partnered with a group of friends in Washington, DC known as Seva DC. They hope to finish their fundraising during a happy hour in DC in December – email for details.

November 20: Ahmedabad
On Thursday, SEWA is thinking of giving me a rest, but I doubt they will let this happen!
November 21-22: Dungarpur
On Friday and Saturday, we will be in Dungarpur visiting three critical projects. In Dungra, we will visit the childcare center funded by Carolyn in Washington, DC. She already raised over $1,000 through yoga classes. We will also be in Nokna and Kahela, which are two villages that will be featured in our 1Well Holiday Program (again, keep an eye out and rediscover the spirit of giving)

November 23-24: Patan
If SEWA has not already thrown me out, on Sunday and Monday we will be in Patan to visit Bandhwad, Varnosali, and Boruda to discuss water and biogas projects.

November 25: Ahmedabad and home
On Tuesday, we have our wrap up meetings at SEWA HQ and then off to the airport that evening.

That is the run down. I will not have Internet access for most of the time, so the posts will be coming in sporadically, but I will get them posted. I hope this gives you a better idea of 1Well and SEWA’s work.

For a chance to partner with a community in need of small but critical projects, visit www.1Well.org and browse our Available Projects or make a contribution to a Project in Progress.