Day 7 - Field Work

We’re back to field work today after leaving Jaipur for Alwar. I think I prefer our field workdays to our tourism days, it gives me a sense of purpose rather than just being a tourist.

This was probably the most rewarding day so far. So far, we’ve stayed fairly removed from the villages we visit. We’d interact with the leaders or we’d be followed by a group from the community but we haven’t really had direct one-on-one interactions with the people, the closest thing has been interacting with the school kids a few days ago and that was still at a distance. Today we visit a 1st – 12th grade school in the area that had recently been restored and fitted with new teaching resources and water systems. The visit was mostly the same as past site visits, the kids are on winter break so they weren’t in the classroom while we meet with the directors of the school but a few were watching from a few feet away.

We collected our samples, did a few tests and were given a short tour of their systems.

I was talking with one of the directors about their water collection and the solar power systems they had put in place and he was telling me about how the school has affected the community. He invited a few students and I into the school’s digital library, he was able to show us some of the teaching material on the computers and he pulled up pictures of students using the computers. This digital library is the first of it’s kind in the state of Rajasthan and because of the impact it has had the government is opening two more in the area. Talking to him you could feel his pride in this school and the passion he has for these kids and it was a really emotional moment for me. I’ve taken so much of my life for granted, I never think of my early education as such a privilege but after talking to the staff at the school and seeing how excited they were for the kids to have something as simple as desks to sit at and roofs that don’t leak I’m so grateful for that start to my education because it set me up to be able to get my degree and go on to help areas like this so kids have access to an education and to a healthy life.

We left the computer room and we’re greeted by a larger group of kids who had gathered just inside the gate to the school. After the conversation with the director I decided I was tired of coming into their space, testing their water, and just leaving; the people were what I was doing this for and I wanted to connect with them. I pulled aside our guide to help translate and went to go sit near one of the groups of kids. I think we probably look a little intimidating to the kids because we look weird and we’re doing all these tests on their water so they don’t really know what to make of us, so I think getting down on their level helped make them a little more comfortable. At first just a few come over and told me their names but in a few minutes I had a little circle of kids who came over to talk. I asked them for their names and if they went to school here. They told me about what they were learning and what they do for fun and I talked to them about what we were doing there. In just a few minutes we’d gone from two separate groups watching each other to one little unit with the kids telling me about their favorite game and inviting me to play soccer with them tomorrow.

I think I was missing the human connection on this trip so it was really nice to talk to the kids, it helps keep the people at the center of what we do rather than just falling into the straight science head-space.

After leaving to school and visiting another nearby check dam we started the 5 hour drive back to Delhi. This was really fun because we drove through one of the main expressways through Delhi in what I’m assuming was rush hour because even our guides said it was busier than normal. Pictures can’t really capture it but there was probably over 10 lanes all packed with cars and motorcycles.