Finishing the Hyderabad RO Clean Water Project--February 2016

We went to the village that our Project Champion, Mr. Sudhakar, grew up in.

Here, the children of the village school--grades K through 6--marched up the street with a drum band to greet us.

One of the traditions of Hindu-faith people is to break open a coconut and spill out the coconut water at the site of new equipment as a symbol of ensuring it will work for a very long time.





We encourage the Village Panchayat (elected governing body) to closely follow the recommended maintenance as well.

Lots of ribbons to cut!

This is a government-sponsored school. It is called Model School and is one of two in the State of Telangana. It is grades 6 through 10, plus two levels of trades school to help the children learn a marketable skill.




The children were so excited to receive cricket bats, balls, soccer balls, jump ropes and small rings for ring-toss.

Six-year chemistry teacher, Venu, tells the effect of fluoride on the bones and teeth. And now because LDS Charities brought clean water to the school, these children and future generations will be healthier. And for that, they are thankful; it has made him and the children very happy.

Turning the systems on!



What a great feeling!

Our Member of (State) Legislative Assembly (MLA) has several banners that are usually posted near each celebration. Here, his photo is in the upper right of the banner and LDS Charities' logo is in the upper left--showing the cooperative relationship of the Church and Telangana State.

Shekar Alamury--our Project Monitor-- decided to take a selfie at the Model School.


This is soooo cool!

School lunch ladies

Here is what the bad water looks like while flowing down the river.
Foam from the pollution and fluoride collects on the rocks.

Everyone is excited to see CLEAN WATER for drinking and cooking come out of the system!

Most of the RO water systems are 500 liter per hour output. That will supply a village up to 2,000 people. If there are more, a larger 1,000 liter per hour plant is installed.

Then there are presentations--shawls and flower leis usually.

And, of course, speeches to give...

People in the villages

Shekar Alamury, Sudhakar Goud, and Rajendran--great helpers to make it all happen!

Newspaper coverage, Namaste Telangana E-Paper, 16 February 2016.

Newspaper coverage, Vaartha E-Paper, 17 February 2016.

Elder Newton and three Champions of the Cause...

Hindu Wedding in Hyderabad--February 2016

We had the opportunity to attend a Hindu wedding when we were in Hyderabad.

Beautiful traditional outfits and traditional Hindu ceremony.

Each part of the wedding has a very specific ceremonial and symbolic function.

Rice represents life, rice sprinkled on the heads of the couple denotes a blessing of a long-lasting marriage.

There were two bands--both playing simultaneously most of the time--that lended to a festive (and very loud) atmosphere.

The reception was at a very nice hotel two days later.

Everyone greeted the bride and groom on a stage.

There were lots of photos--two cinematographers and three still photographers captured almost everything.

Visiting Old Bore Well Sites--January 2016

After ten years with their LDSC bore wells, the people are still so very thankful for the water.

They could not say thank you enough.

The storage tanks stand tall and still useful to every family.

Seeing the Sights of Bangalore and Mysore--January 2016

On 27 January 2016, Republic Day in India--the day they celebrate when their first constitution was established after independence was won from Great Britain--we went to a flower show in Bangalore.

Elder and Sister Henrie enjoyed it with us.

Oddly, there were flowers there too...

More flowers...

Lots of people too.


Hey, that rock hill looks like a good sledding hill...

No snow in Bangalore?

Oh.

This tree is related to the cottonwood tree we know in Utah.

Then we went to the Industrial and Technological Museum.

There was lots of cool stuff to look at.

Larry found an old train.

Here is a panorama picture of the Karnataka State House building


On January 28, 2016 we went about three hours south of Bangalore to an old former kingdom called Mysore.

The Maharaja of Mysore royal family ruled from 1399 to 1950.

Mysore is one of the most visited monuments in India, second only to the Taj Mahal. The annual footfall to this royal attraction is 3.5 million.

There are twelve Hindu temples on the grounds. They do not allow photos taken inside the palace. But it was absolutely beautiful. The last of the royal family still lives on the grounds towards the back of the palace.

Checking Out a Potential New Clean Water RO Project with Elder & Sister Henrie--22 Jan 2016

We visited seven villages in the Nagonda Mandal.

With us were Elder and Sister Henrie--water specialists from Orem, UT; our project monitor, Shekar Alamury; and Mr. Sudhakar, our project community "champion".

The Murthapur village.

We stopped and visited with the village Panchayat--the first level of elected governance at a village. The next level is called the Grama Panchayat and is usually made up of several Panchayats.

We were impressed that each village was prepared with a building to dedicate for the
new RO filtering system.

The women and the children always gathered separately from the men--except when we asked them to come talk with us.

These children asked to have their picture taken with us.

We were always an attraction to the kids where ever we went...

The women always came to see what was going on.

Here are two women from a Lambani Tribe with Sister Newton.

The old systems always looked neat and tidy.

These villagers take water seriously

Sister Henrie also loved to talk to the children...

Some of them have never seen a white face before and were afraid at first.




We were glad to see that most of the old RO systems--that date back 8 to 10 years--are still being maintained well. Each village had a plan to maintain the filters and membranes as well as replace equipment as it wears out.




























In the back room of one of the RO system sheds we found a man weaving silk sarees. It takes four days to weave a silk saree--which is just over six yards of cloth.

On the way home we stopped to take a picture of a tree-climber. These guys climb really tall palm trees and place small pots in the trees to collect the palm oil. They go back every few days and harvest the oil. Notice he has no shoes and bare legs to climb the tree. His harness is home made.