Project Status

Thought I would complete my posts with an update of where the project stands as I prepare to leave India. On my last day on site we poured the concrete for the roof. The weather started to turn that evening when the region got it's first rain of the monsoon season (which should be great for helping cure the concrete, but will make it tough to continue work at the site for a while. The contractor said he planned to leave the falsework in place for about 10 days. At that point the concrete tank for the water catchment system needs to be built. Then a new concrete pad for the wash station with wash pads needs to be built. The new new electric water pump needs to be installed and power hooked up, the first flush system for the water catchment system needs to be built, and the wetland needs to be completed. So as you can see although we accomplished plenty in our time here , there is still allot to be done before the wash station is functional. I'm not sure whether or not the contractor will proceed on his own to complete these items or if another EWB team will have to be sent to direct the effort (I suspect the later). Also, I think the rain will prevent much progress for the next couple of months. So, I suspect Ann Marie will need volunteers for another implementation trip to help complete the project. I hope some of those of you who have been reading the blog and posting encouraging comments might consider making a trip yourself, if not for this project then some other EWB project. I can tell you my experience here have been wonderful and there is certainly a great need for or help in this region.

March 21

Yesterday was my last day in Ongole and it was a big one. I headed out to the site about 10:30 and was disappointed to find that no workers were there to pour the concrete for the roof. So I called the contractor who told me the concrete crew were on the way, so I decided to stick it out for a while. Sure enough around noon the workers showed up and what an interesting crew it turned out to be. The skilled jobs, like concrete finisher, carpenter, or mixer operator were all done by men, but the hard physical labor was all done by a group of 10 teenage girls. Let me tell you these girls could put any laborer in the states to shame with how hard they worked. They would carry the raw materials, aggregate , sand , cement, and water, in pans on their heads to the concrete mixer. Then when the batch was complete they would scope it into their pans and hoist it up to the roof and then again carry it on their heads to where it needed to be placed. All in about 80 degree, 99% humidity whether. Not sure how much they get paid for this kind of work but boy did they earn their money today. By the evening we had our first rain fall of the season in Ongole, so I'm glad we were able to get the roof complete. I'm in Hyderabad today awaiting my flight out for a few days of R&R in Delhi. I'll try and load up some pictures of the big pour next time I get a chance and have some final thoughts on where the project stands and my overall experience in India. Until then happy Hollie (It's a Indian festival day today where everyone paints them selves bright colors, I'll try and get some pics of that too).

Mike

Thursday, March 20

Action today! The contractor placed the rebar for the roof deck. Didn't take too long to get all of the rebar lifted into place and tied, not all that much different than in the U.S. I was actually on site while the work proceeded, so I actually got to film some of it. Later, the contractor introduced me to the cement mason who will be leading the concrete pour for the roof. He told me that it was 100% for sure that the pour will happen tomorrow... or at worst the day after. Well I hope it's tomorrow because it's my last day in Ongole before I head off to do some site seeing for a few days before heading back to the states and I would hate to miss the big event.

Wednesday, March 19

Well there was wasn't much action at the site today. The contractor bought the reinforcing steel needed to complete the roof deck, cut it length and delivered it to site. Tomorrow the rebar will be placed, so until then I thought you might like to see a photo of how things are currently done in the area. This photo is of a group of village women and girls washing their clothes in what appears to be a road culvert. I guess what ever water you can find is what you have to use. Pretty amazing to see how bright and clean the colors of the women's dresses stay under these harsh conditions. Hopefully, once our new wash station is completed in the village it can at least make their lives a little easier.

Tuesday March 18

Finally we started work on the roof today!! After much behind the scenes negotiations the contract agreed to move forward today and erected the falsework for the roof. It is interesting to say the least, though I think pretty typical by Indian standards. First the forms for the roof deck are 2' X 3' corrugated metal pans. These are supported along the transverse joints with a rough cut 2" x 4" header board. The header is supported by a series of roughly 2" dia poles spaced about every 3' - 4'. The poles are attached to the header by nailing a small board (1/2" X 4" about 1' long) to each. The poles rest on a footing of a similar small board in the native sand base. While maybe not what I expected it at least seems to give support to the joints where it is needed and I did field load test it by climbing up on top of the deck myself and if it can support my load (even in my reduced state after my day of illness) I guess it will work for the concrete. At least I hope so!

Roadtrip

March 17
As things were slow here in Ongole I decided to take a roadtrip to see a reverse osmosis water plant in operation in a village near Hyderabad. Before I made it there however, I learned first hand just how valuable having clean drinking water can be to a community like this when I came down with a severe case of dysentery, probably brought on by drinking some untreated water. Luckily I had brought meds from the states to treat it with just in case of such an occurrence, and am completely recovered from it now, but none the less it took me completely out of action for a day or so and you can really see how this could make life miserable for villagers who have to face this challenge every day without the help of modern medicines. Makes you appreciate just how much difference you can make in a village by providing them with a clean drinking water source. Anyway back to the project tomorrow (Hint I think there will be some progress!)

March 16

Well it's my 7th day in Ongole and I've been avoiding blogging for awhile for a reason, we've made no progress on the project. I have been told time and time again that work would begin but it never has. Needless to say this is very disappointing. I have been given a number of excusses why work is not proceeding that I will not detail here, but obviously I am not happy with the lack of results. On the other hand I have had pleant of free time to see the sites in Ongole.

Gift Ceromony

Day 25, March 13

After a couple of slow days in Ongole we had some progress today. Ram our India - Rotary liaison made it down to Ongole today from Hyderabad and we went back out to the village to meet with the builder Mr. Karuna and the villagers. We discussed what needed to be done to complete the project and Mr. Karuna agreed to start tomorrow on the roof slab which should be complete before I leave Ongole with any luck. The villagers seem excited about the project and were very happy to have someone there who could tell them what was going on in their own language! I presented them with a gift from EWB a volleyball and net and received a bag of peanuts which they were busy harvesting when we were own site. Ram, Mr. Karuna , and myself headed back to the larger village where Mr. Karuna works from and sat down and had tea and Ram negotiated the payment for the cost of the project. Everything went well and Ram and I said goodbye and had my driver take us back to Ongole. We were moving along quickly on the 4 lane toll road and things were really starting to look up right until we hit the motorized rickshaw! Being in a car we got the better end of the deal, the rickshaw ended up on it's side in the ditch, but luckily no one was hurt in either vehicle. Our driver however must have feared for his life as he hopped out of the car and hightailed it out of there leaving Ram and myself to deal with the locals. Things got straightened out and we caught a ride to the bus stop and rode the bus to Ongole. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Day 22, March 10

Well after a long and interesting train ride from Hyderabad the B-team has arrived in Ongole. that's me Mike. First off I want to say thanks to the A-team, Kim and Deepa, for all their hard work and congradulate them on a job well done, well at least partially done that's where I come in. I got into town early yesterday morning got my hotel room and found my driver, but not before I took an unexpected detour by getting off at the wrong train stop (something I had been warned about repeatedly but still manged to do!). None the less after figuring out where I was I met some very friendly folks in the train station and enjoyed a short comuter train ride to Ongole. Once in town I had the driver take me staight out to the village to see the site for myself. Things looked much as I expected from Kim and Deepa's report. Only work that could be done at this time was backfilling the outflow pipes which I began and villagers picked up on and finished up. Unfortunately I think they were very interested to know when the roof work would start which I was not able to comunicate to them since there was no interpeter and I actually didn't know since I had not met the builder yet. I know this was a great concern to them we even took some villagers back into the closest larger community to find an english speaker but I am sure the message never got through. At this point I was exhuasted after a long night of travel and then a hot moring of work on the project, so I asked the driver to take me back to Ongole, but not before he insisted on making another stop at a local mission where the pastor was a good english interpeter. I had a nice lunch with him and was able to clear some things up with the car service. Finally back at my hotel I met with the builder and agreed to the quantities he needed to get to finish the structure. He said it will take him 2 days to gather material and will start work on the roof on the third day. Which will give me a couple of days to recover from today, boy do I need it!

Day 20 - Saturday March 8 - Final day for Kim and Deepa

Today we are in Hyderabad. We met Mike and handed over the project to him. So today will be my final post, and Mike will take over the updates as time allows. Deepa and I go our separate ways tomorrow - she will go to her family in Ahmadabad and I will go to meet my friend Cosmina in Bombay. We are both looking forward to some relaxing down time!

Thanks to everyone for reading and for all of your support. There are many more stories to tell and we look forward to seeing you all on our return home.

Day 19 - Friday March 7

Today was our last day on site. We managed to get all of the piping for the wetland placed and connected. So basically all of the piping is in from the edge of the proposed pad location to the end of the infiltration gallery. The inlet and outlet of the wetland has been backfilled with the large gravel (completely covering the collection and outlet pipes). Approximately one foot of small gravel has backfilled in what will be the wetland bed itself (this is the area the reeds will need to be planted in). We did not want to completely backfill the wetlands because it would be extremely difficult down the road to dig through 2 feet of small gravel to plant the reeds (the reeds need to be planted after the station is up and running otherwise they will die).


Since we did not have a translator, we called a friend back home that speaks Telagu so that he could inform the villagers that today was our last day. We also told them that Mike would be coming to finish up the project, so they are expecting him on the 9th or 10th. It is unfortunate that we could not communicate with the villagers over the course of the project. Not only would we have liked to tell them about the project and provide education about water quality and maintenance of the facility, but also to get to know them and learn more about their lives. They were very kind people and I can only hope that this project makes their lives better at least in some small way.


The villagers gave us beautiful flower lays (spelling?) upon our departure. It was a bittersweet departure as we would have liked to see the project through to completion; however, at the same time this has been an exhausting experience.

Tonight we take the train to Hyderabad.

Day 18, Thursday March 6

Today was an exhausting day. It is a holiday here in India, and one that is especially celebrated down here in Andhra Pradesh. That being said, it made us feel somewhat guilty having the villagers work all day, as we needed their help to trench and get the piping ready for the plumber to make his connections. In the end, it was a long day, but we did it! All of the piping is cut and ready for the plumber to connect tomorrow. We also had a mason on site to install the precast concrete rings that we will be using for the settling basin (at the inlet of the wetland) and the valve pit (for the ball valve at the outlet of the wetland). The mason also needed to install some steel mesh and concrete to give the rings a bottom. He also made holes in the precast rings for the necessary piping.


Tomorrow we will work on backfilling the wetlands. We will try to accomplish as much as possible as it is our last work day in the village.

Day 17 - Wednesday March 5

First of all, I just wanted to say thanks to the folks at EBMUD for all your support - it is so nice to see all of your supportive comments when I am feeling down. Special thanks to Mitch for all your comments, not to mention that special delivery that you sent me via Dave C. before I left. Also, you are awesome for looking up UPVC specs - seriously, I could use your expertise on all this stuff here :).

So today was a pretty busy day. This morning we got the Silpaulin that will be the wetland liner. We spent the first part of the day trying to level the wetland and ensure that it sloped in the correct direction, which was no mean feat as we don't have alot of equipment. So we spent over an hour surveying the wetland, and then figured out where we needed to dig. Again, since we don't have a translator, it was very difficult to try to tell the villagers what we wanted them to do (and why we were doing it). So we figured the best way to do it was to show them. So we started digging and smoothing out the area. The villagers caught on pretty quickly, and promptly took the shovel out of my hands. Once we got the ground sloped correctly, we put down the PVC liner. We spent the rest of the afternoon putting down the first layer of soil, and then starting the 2 foot berm around the perimeter of the wetland. This took quite some time as the villagers carried the rocks to us one plate full at a time. After several hours, everyone was too hot to continue and we halted work for the day. Tomorrow we plan to head out to the village very early to complete the berm and install the first layer of gravel for the inlet and outlet areas.

Day 16 - Tuesday, March 4

Today we received approval to buy the piping for the wetlands. We spent a good part of the day finding out more about the various grades of PVC (in India there are numerous grades of PVC including UPVC, CPVC, regular PVC, etc), and there are not really stringent standards in place to ensure that pipe manufacturers adhere to government standards for pipe production. Of course, our first concern is that we use a pipe that is non-toxic and also will be relatively durable. We had originally intended to use UPVC, however, it was relatively costly and we did not receive permission to make this purchase. By 5 pm, we were given the approval to purchase Finolex PVC pipe, which we were ensured adhered to IS:4985, which is the standard for drinking water applications.

So unfortunately we did not head out to the site today as we were waiting on materials. Tomorrow we plan to head to the site first thing to start grading the wetland and laying down the liner.

Day 15 - Monday, March 3

Today the excavation of the wetland continued. We laid out the location of both the settling tank and the drain and infiltration pipes. The villagers volunteered to trench for the infiltration pipeline in the afternoon. We are now awaiting the rest of our materials (silpaulin for the wetland liner and the associated piping) before work can continue.

Day 14 - Sunday March 2

Today we went to the village in the morning to lay out the wetland area. The villagers helped us clear the area (there were bushes, sticks and random other debris in the proposed location). The laborers came later in the day and began the excavation. The excavation for the main body of the wetland was started today. The excavation for the settling tank and the trenching for the infiltration pipe will probably occur tomorrow.

Day 13 - Saturday March 1

We received approval from the Rotary contact for the slightly larger pad size and the second bore well, which is great news as both were required to make the project successful.

In the morning, the villagers installed a second bore well on the opposite end of the proposed pad. Once the contractor's workers arrived on scene, they promptly began pouring the second half of the columns. We verified that they were level and of the correct dimensions, though the workers were also double checking the dimensions themselves with plum bobs and a piece of flexible tubing. Both the villagers and the workers were also ensuring that the pours were being kept wet. The original plan was to install the roof after the columns were installed; however, the decision was made to hold off on the installation of the roof until Mike arrives on March 8, as he would like to oversee this operation (Mike contributed to the design of the structure). We were informed of the decision during the day and it was a bit of a shock as we were not consulted during the decision making process. So the next step of the construction will involve the installation of the wetland. We are still trying to find a place where we can buy reeds; however, the language barrier is pretty extensive and I do not think people are understanding what we need. We have been to several nurseries with no luck in finding the plants we will need for the wetland. If worst comes to worst, we may need to simply have the villagers or the workers go down to the Buckingham Canal and pull out some of the naturally occurring reeds for our project.

Since the wetland construction is about to begin, we scouted the area for the best location for it. There were two acceptable areas, but unfortunately one is the site of a future road. That made the decision quite easy regarding the final placement of the wetland. We plan to arrive at the site tomorrow first thing in the morning to lay out the dimensions for the wetland. The contractor's workers will then start the excavation.