Jasper Daniel: A wedding and a funeral up in the hills.

Jaffer came into the farm office with a sunshine smile. Finally, after five long years, Farida, his wife was going to have a baby. Blessings and hearty congratulations flowed freely, drowning the feeble ‘thank you’s of the shy, soon-to-be-father. I too wished Jaffer and rushed to the jeep waiting outside to take me to the hills. I was late.

The jeep bobbed and swayed over the rocky road, through the trees, and up the hill. Peals of laughter and boisterous hurrahs spilt from the other jeep that was following the one I was in. A bunch of school children were having a party inside – students of Ananda Vidyalayam, the school run by SEDS on the farm.

The convoy and its mood resembled one that of a wedding gang. It reminded me of the trip we made to attend Jaffer and Farida’s Nikkah. A simple but gorgeous wedding followed by five years of hopeful longing. In a way, this trip too was to attend a sort of wedding. We were going to the hills to do seed dibbling (making a half inch scratch on the ground and dropping seeds in it). We were carrying the bride (seeds) to give her to the groom (soil). And hopefully, like how Jaffer and Farida are being blessed, this marriage too will be fruitful. Hopefully the seeds will give birth to healthy plants that will grow into trees. And so, with hope in our spirit and joy in our hearts we arrived at the top and started dibbling.

It takes a lot for a tree to happen. It takes years. It takes courage and relentless dedication. Rajen and Manil, the founders of SEDS have them in plenty. What they need is support. Support in terms of funds and labour - Two things absolutely critical to run afforestation and reforestation projects; and sadly, these two are the most difficult things to come by. It takes over Rs.25 lakhs to plant 5000 trees. SEDS, in the past 35 years, has planted over 10 Million trees spread across 40,000 acres, covering 350 villages. Today, schools and corporates come on invitation to lend a helping hand in tree plantation. A few corporates donate funds as a part of their CSR initiatives. SEDS needs more such helping hands and funds.

Coming back to the wedding (seed dibbling), we spent about an hour dibbling and scattering a variety of seeds on the hills. When the two boxes in which we carried the seeds were empty, we decided to get into the jeep and drive back to the farm. That’s when one of the boys spotted two men carrying a log on their shoulders. A healthy, twenty year old tree, a child of the seed and the soil, a labour of love was felled, brutally murdered. To me, the log looked like a lifeless body being carried in mourning. My heart was broken. A sombre mood came over our small group. It did not resemble a wedding party anymore. We were angry but helpless. The trees around Penukonda are the lifeline of the many hundred villages in this area. They maintain groundwater levels, prevent soil erosion and give the once barren land a healthy and beautiful green cover. A tree's life was cut short today. And it dampened our wedding cheer. but we will never cease to take the seeds to the soil. The wedding parties will go on. You're cordially invited.

Photo Courtesy: Disha Kathuria

Disha Kathuria: SEDS from the eye of a volunteer (The day after it rained)

One of the best things about working with SEDS (apart from the incredible food that is) is, that you meet new people from all over the world, quite often. Sometimes it is old volunteers lending a helping hand and other times it’s new ones coming in to learn and share. All in all, there’s always something to look forward to. Aswas when one fine morning, Filip, an old volunteer of SEDS from Belgium,dropped by for a few days.  

The day started with Varun Kumar (data entry), Imran Basha (Low CarbonFarming/LCF coordinator), Filip (ex-coordinator for LCF) and Jasper discussing about carbon credits and how to improve them. 

The discussion went well. In fact, it seemed like a good day for anything. It had rained last night. And the farm was a dream within a dream, obliging to our heart’s desires.

The campus is always brimming with energy. All one needs is a profound appreciation for life’s simpler things. And the days of our life would overflow with little perfect moments. And it was pretty perfect to simply watch the lovers of the soil till it, sow in it seeds of hope and laugh like there is a wonderful tomorrow. They were sowing groundnut seeds that day.

Jasper decided to return to the soil. With him were men in white and women in fluorescent colors with mud under their feet and seeds in their hands. We understood for the first time perhaps, the true meaning of the phrase, work is worship. The farmer in his slow march, with time as the finishing line, seemed to be lost in meditation.

That day we understood, it’s not the feet, but the road you walk on that matters.

Photo Courtesy: Disha Kathuria

Jasper Daniel: The man who made running water walk.

‘Tontyfour avers water coming, saar. No prablem’. Manjunath, the broker, concluded his sales pitch. We knew it was not true. There’s no such thing as twenty-four hours water supply in Bangalore anymore. Even some of the poshest condominiums are depending on off- the-book water tankers to get their water needs met every day.

It’s sad and unimaginable that a city planned and designed to be a garden, today, has no enough water. In contrast, a cluster of villages in Andhra’s Anantapur district - the second most drought-prone region in India, has water. That too, is unimaginable…and intriguing.

‘How’s this possible?’, I asked Rajen, the founder and father-figure at SEDS. To answer me he had to take me in his jeep to the hills of Sanipalli and Penukonda. Thanks to Rajen and his team at SEDS, the once barren landscape now has a thick, lush green cover. Thirty years ago, when Maniland Rajen Joshua started SEDS, the top item on their agenda was to bring back the trees and create new forests in the area.

‘You know what it takes to conserve water?’, Rajen asks me, ‘It takes common sense’. In those days, Rajen used to climb the hills on foot (the jeep was bought much later) to study the path of rain water. He then came with an exhaustive plan to maximize the potential of rainwater. He gave it the name ‘Watershed’. Today the term is being used world over in various water conservation projects.

Rajen took me around the forest to explain in detail everything about Watershed. Rainwater, as it flows down the hill, flows with fury. It washes off the fertile top soil. It flows with no agenda and ends up getting wasted. Sometimes even causing damage to life and crops in the surrounding villages. Rajen understood that the first thing to do was to slow down the flow of running water. So he built Gully checks and Check dams. Gully checks slow down the flow and check dams collect the water. Then the filled dams overflow at a slower pace until the water reaches the next check dam, and so on and on, till it reaches farms and other water bodies below the hills, slow and steady, like how a little child walks, holding the hands of the parent.

Along with Check dams and Gully checks, SEDS frequently builds trenches to help rainwater percolate into the soil. SEDS also builds contour bunds in farm lands to prevent soil erosion. The silt (washed-up fertile top soil) that gets collected in the tanks is distributed to the farmers during the yearly tank de-silting drive organized by SEDS.

The benefits of Watershed are many. You can come and see for yourself. Pay a visit to SEDS and we’ll take you around. Watching the sun go down from up the hills is a spectacular sight. We’d like to have you over soon. Until then remember to turn off the tap when you brush or shave. It's plain common sense.

Photo Courtesy: Ronny Smet

Disha Kathuria: SEDS from the eye of a volunteer (The day journalist Shamola came for a visit)

Hi. We are Disha and Jasper. And we are working as volunteers for SEDS. We'd like to use this blog as a platform to share our experiences with all of you. Hope you enjoy our journey.

It's our 6th day at the farm and after a bit of morning walk in the beautiful boulevard of our campus, we found ourselves headed straight to the dining area. The aroma of hot pooris and aloo (potato) made the morning air even more welcoming. As a rule, we take our breakfast (here or anywhere) rather seriously. A big one keeps us going through the better part of the day. And one learns to appreciate a non-intrusive tummy when one is about to meet a journalist and visit two villages back to back. 

Shamola, a freelance journalist along with her friend Jayanti, came visiting to do an article on SEDS.

The two villages, Chollemari and Roddam, and SEDS’s contribution to their upliftment were a part of their agenda.

They began their day interviewing Rashna, the owner & creative head of Lilani, a boutique that employs and teaches village women to sew, knit and design clothes, bags, rugs etc. Their philosophy is ‘upcycle’ and their office is located on the SEDS campus. Rashna along with Basha (Creative Manager, Lilani) believes that every woman is naturally creative and with the right guidance can  give life to her thoughts. Lilani has helped 600 women become financially independent so far. To know more about them you can visit their Facebook page.

Next, Shamola and Jayati paid a visit to SEDS’s schools, Anand Vidyalayam. It was lunch time and some very beautiful faces greeted us with curry and mudde on them.

Our next destination was Chollemari, a small village most known for its ‘fish wars’.  Our gracious host, village farmers helped us understand how SEDS offered them solutions like low carbon farming, installation of bio-gas units and how to defend their fish. Basha, SEDS’s legal advisor and Mani, SEDS’s Area Manager were our amazing translators. 

After exchanging a warm good bye at Chollemarri we arrived at Roddam, where we met women of colossal strength.

From working barefoot in the fields or looking for dry firewood to owning a dairy farm, SEDS has helped these women come a long way.  Manil Jayasena Joshua, CEO, SEDS issued ID cards for women to help them open bank accounts without their husbands. This small act helped the village women find their identity and express themselves like never before. 

Photo Courtesy: Disha Kathuria

Jasper Daniel: Lessons from the School of Joy.

‘Schools’, the one thing on top of our minds these days. 

Even as I’m writing this note, Bangalore, the IT capital of India, has come to a standstill. Social media sites are teeming with outrage and opinions. And protesters have united on the streets. All because of a school. I hope and pray that the six year old child who was raped, and her family get justice, and that the child finds the strength and support to grow out of the trauma.

As city schools are baffled over the latest developments; and as parents and the general public are scrambling to find justice and a way forward, I’d like to draw your attention to a tiny little school in a tiny little village in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantpur district. The picture and mood over here in Anandha Vidhyalayam (school of Joy)is completely different. Everywhere you turn, you find beautiful, confident smiles. In one corner, a little group is learning crochet from Natalie, a volunteer from Australia. One can see the exchange of information and ideas from two different cultures in that little group. Natalie too is learning. In another classroom, Claire, another volunteer from Australia is teaching the children a song. A group of older kids are having a discussion in the library. Another bunch is learning patience through fishing at the pond with Ronny, a friend of Manil and Rajen and an ex volunteer who’s visiting us from Belgium. There’s so much going on in this little school.

The children of Anandha Vidhyalayam are truly blessed. They get to meet and interact with new people, people from different cultural backgrounds every day. They’re encouraged to draw, paint, write poetry, take up crafts. It’s not just books and homework for them. Anadha Vidhyalayam provides a wholesome learning experience to these children. They are also given small chores to help them take responsibilities. They take turns to clean the school, milk the cows, give the dogs a bath, look after the little ones in their group. This brings in them a sense of communal living. They learn values and get a lot of opportunity to put them to practice. They’re not just taken care of but they’re also taught to care for and take care of things and people around them. It can come as a surprise to see how responsible and mature these children are.

As I watch and interact with these kids every day, I’m convinced that our city schools have a lot to learn from Anandha Vidhyalayam. All of these children come from poor families. Some families are broken. Some kids have lost their parents to alcohol addiction and HIV. For them Anandha Vidhyalayam is not just a school. It’s their hope and a passage way to the world outside. The teachers and Mr. Henry, the Headmaster are doing everything to make sure that when the time comes for the children to face the world, they would do it with not just confidence but also with compassion. These children know that the world needs compassion. They've seen darker days and now with the help of SEDS they’re getting prepared to bring their shining light into the world, to be useful and a blessing to society.

The children of Anandha Vidhyalayam need your help and attention. Yesterday we had put up a post asking for funds to buy a laptop for Madhan, one of SEDS students who is now pursuing his Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Many of you have come forward to help Madhan. Thank you. We need more hands to guide these lovely little children into a bright future. If you’re in Bangalore, you could also take a day off from work and drop by to spend time with these children and teach them something you’re good at. And you’ll learn a lot in return.

Photo Courtesy: Disha Kathuria

SEDS: When every drop of water is taken care of, each one of us is taken care of.

"Penukonda" means a big hill. Vira Virupanna Udaiyar, a prince of the glorious Vijayanagar dynasty built the Penukonda Fort. According to history, the Penukonda fort was made the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire for a short time. Inscriptions at Kallodi in Mysore reveal that the rulers had a channel dug to bring water from different sources to Penukonda. The inscriptions also describe a moat filled with crocodiles.  

You can still see the ruins of the fort on the way to the SEDS farm and you can also see the relationship between stone fortifications and water still being maintained today. The Vijayanagar rulers used water to protect their fort, SEDS uses fortifications to protect and harvest water.

SEDS has constructed walls and stone dams to trap and channel rain water from the watershed areas of the hills of Penukonda. Water that would otherwise have run down the hill, wiping away fertile top soil is now channeled and directed into catchment areas where it can be used. SEDS currently works in 220 watershed villages, helping them harvest, utilize and preserve this most precious resource. The water table, which was low down at 50 feet today stands at an average of 8 feet.

As a result, Anantapur has gone from being the second-most drought prone district in India to the green-topped land that it is today.

[The article originally written by Amit Manikoth, for SEDS' 30 years celebration. This is simply a reproduction.]

Re-using plastic!

From months of collecting plastic bags on campus and storing them in bags, I finally came up with a useful idea I thought would be worth trying.On the 15^th  of July we had the first of the few heavy showers we have had for the year and it was a welcome gift from the heat and dry from the first half of the year. So,  for all of us who had to go about our usual daily chores, it seemed like we were in need of something to cover and protect us while allowing us to enjoy our daily routine in the rain.

And I thought about all the plastic collected and wondered if we could turn them into hats and rain coats and shoes! I also came across  this webpage of some designers in South America who made boots out of recycled plastic bags and were quite fashionable and it inspired me to think of simple useful products for the people in rural areas who are really not equipped for the once in a year rains. 

 So, without wasting any time we got to it and made a couple of hats. Initially the girls at the centre were a bit apprehensive but once the samples were done they seemed really excited by them and it encouraged me to seriously want to take this idea forward. So we made a raincoat next. Next in line may be the possibility of making gum boots based on the same idea.

 By working with recycled plastic bags I hope to be able to find an alternative for all the plastic waste that goes into the dumps in our cities and towns. I would really like to target the villages around the SEDS campus, and on the campus itself as a start.

 

As of now collection for the plastic is something that needs to be looked into on a more defined manner, and using them in more innovative ways. We will look into areas where we can introduce a system of collecting plastic from homes that would otherwise just be thrown  into a bin for the garbage trucks to collect.