Self Driven Nalagonda District Project in India

My Preparation:

The first thing that I had to do in making this trip was researching a place that sparked my interest. After a few days of searching the web, I found an article about a rural place in India that was in need of help due water fluoride contamination.Seeing this, I talked to my parents and we decided that this is  good place that can benefit from our help. My second step in planning for this activity was finding transportation. Since the flights from Texas to India are very expensive, I had to book it two and a half months in advance to get a reasonable price that my parents can afford. In addition, the airline that I decided to go with also depended on the price of the airfare. Thirdly, when I arrived in India, I was in a suburb so I had to talk to the people there and ask about the district and directions to the place since the GPS system there is not as advanced because of it being in a rural area. Because I needed to get there efficiently, I was able to get into contact with my grandparents driver since he was originally from there and we made our three hour journey in the car to the district. Due to the fact that I wanted to talk to the kids there, I bought one hundred packs of biscuits and water bottles to give to the kids when I arrived at the school so that I would seem more welcoming because visitors are very rare in their area and I wanted something that I can offer them that would allow the kids to open up to me and tell me about their living conditions.

How it was different from anything I have ever done:

This activity was very different from anything that I have ever done before because usually when I help people, it is locally and within my community and doing it with people that I know. This time however, it was just me and I had to adapt to the Indian environment when it came to things like food. Also, it was very different because they did not have any data and my technology did not work, so I had to ask around a lot and I had to face my fear of talking to complete strangers in a language that I am not comfortable talking in.

My Challenges:

I was challenged and placed in an uncomfortable position on several occasions during my trip. The first one was the language barrier. Growing up as an Indian American, I was not completely in contact with my culture and roots compared to if I lived in India. Hence, when I spoke in the language that they speak there, although it was comprehensible, my way of speaking was accented and it was obvious that I was a foreigner not only in their village, but in their country also. That was alarming to some of them because they were confused as to why we would come all the way from the United States to their specific village and contacted the village officials since news spreads very quickly in a small place. After talking to them and telling them my intentions, they welcomed me with open arms and told me all the places that I can go to help and investigate. Being in this situation really forced myself to think on my feet because I had to stay calm and explain to them with my language barrier in tow that I wanted to help them so I can propose a solution to them in the near future.

My detailed trip:

Before I was able to get to my destination, I had to book my flight from the Texas to India and once I got there, all of my travel was by car.  Once I got to India, my expedition started.

First, I went to the water desalination plant with the local kis and provided them with filtered water and biscuits. At the water plant, I talked to the man that is in charge of the place and learned about the reverse osmosis system that they use to get rid of the flouride in the water and how people can only get access to clean water by fetching it from these plants placed in distant villages.

This was the center where they would get the filtered water

Next, I went to Aangawadi which is a government facility for pregnant women. I spent two hours interacting with the women as they talked about their daily lives along with the hardships and risks that they can face due to not having access to the water plants in the city. I provided them with bottled water and snacks after talking to them also and also talked to the woman that was in charge of the center. She told me about how there have been many women that faced pregnancy complications due to fluoride remnants in the water and how it can affect the baby in the womb.

After going to Aangawadi, I went to a school for the disabled and talked to the kids there. The school was very small, placed in a old house. The resources that the kids had were very scarce and the bus dropped them at school every morning at six in the morning. The school was in a woman’s house and she was the only one taking care of the children as she said that she wanted to provide a place for the children to learn since the government did not have one nearby and she was eighty years old but still working hard to help these kids which was very inspirational and eye opening to me.

Two hours later, I went to a free eye operation facility and spent three hours there talking to the doctor and patients. They talked about how even though they have these water tanks, they were not existent two years prior so a lot of people still have after effects from the fluoride such as eye problems. While I was there, I was able to get into contact with the head doctor at the facility who operates with no fee and he talked about how these people really need help and that money is not a concern for him as he just wants to offer his help. He then showed me all of the newspapers that he was featured in and he is considered a hero in their village for helping all these people with good intentions.

Last but not least, I visited the orphanage. In my two hours there, I communicated and played with the kids in the orphanage, telling them about my life in America and them talking about their lives in India. Most of the kids were very young and it made me very sad that there were so many of them in the orphanage. Two kids specifically caught my eye as they were around eleven years old and I know how important basic education is, especially in the prime years of adolescence. Therefore, I was able to financially adopt them for a year, using four hundred dollars of my saved money to take care of all of their basic needs and education for a year. This made me very elated as I was able to use my money for something worthwhile and the smiles on the kids faces were irreplaceable to me, putting a good end for my trip there this year.

My accomplishments:

School for autism

After this trip, my perspective on the way of life completely changed. Before I was aware of people in developing countries facing hardships but experiencing them first hand is completely different from just being educated on it. After this trip, I feel proud of myself for breaking my boundaries and getting comfortable being uncomfortable so that I can help people and do it without much help as my parents let me take initiative in everything that I did there. Additionally, I felt very accomplished when I was able to give my money that I tend to spend on items that I realize that I don't really need amd instead use it to help people because for them it makes all the difference and as a global citizen, I feel as if it is my duty help when given an opportunity. This will definitely not be a one time only trip as I plan to come back every two years and check on everything that is happening there. Next time, I want to find a way to get into contact with the people that set up the osmosis systems and see if we can find a more efficient way for water availability within the village. This is just the beginning of my journey and I am so excited for the future of helping and watching this small area revolutionize into a healthy and happy place with my involvement and the help of the government. With all of this said, I, Sneha Bondalapati have crossed something off of my bucket list as I was able to help people and face my fears, challenging myself in the process and I am truly grateful for this experience.

This is the small school that they had for children with autism

Here I visited the local hospital and talked to the doctor about the fluoride contamination problems that the residents faced.