The Last Mega-Modules

We did it! We talked about Humanure composting without getting laughed out of Pathapatnam.
This week Asha and I did another couple of trainings. One on infectious diseases, and the last one was about musculoskeletal conditions. We started by talking about different kinds of germs: viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic. Then we profiled some of the common culprits around here: Malaria, Filaria, Cholera, Typhoid, TB, Dengue and Chikkin-gunniya (the virus with the best name, but not very fun to get). We talked about how they get at us, what they do to us, what we can do to fight back.

But the part that's most compelling to me, is disease prevention. We talked a lot about personal hygiene and community hygiene, especially fecal contamination in the environment. Some have explained to me that Indians are historically used to organic trash, and that's why they don't think twice about tossing foil paan wrappers or ANYTHING in the street. But even organic waste serves as breeding ground for flies. Especially human waste. Driving the road at night is like a scene from a Monty Python movie. Every few minutes, your headlights land on someone's knobby knees as they squat roadside, relieving themselves right there.

There is a very serious lack of infrastructure for handling trash and waste here. Trash is generally burned, which is horrible because burning plastic releases all kinds of carcinogens into the air. The sewers (when they exist) are just open canals in the villages and towns, but these STINK and are very gross. Flies breed there and carry foulness on their feet then they land on food and children, spreading disease. Some villages make efforts to clean them regularly, but they're using bleaches that just filter down into the water table.

But here's the exciting thing: in India, 85% of trash is still organic, which means, it's compostable. So not only can we clean up the environment from ugly, stinky pollution and disease-breeding feces, we can actually use the trash and waste to enrich our primary agricultural resource, the soil. Testing shows that thermophilic composting followed by about a period of ageing (just leaving it be) eliminates all the dangerous germs from the compost. And if there's any concern at all, the compost can be used on horticultural (tree) crops instead of field crops.

Staffers definately were challenged by some of my suggestions about composting and Humanure composting in particular, but they were receptive and curious. The questions were very realistic and showed people were interested. They asked about how we can talk to villagers about this, and specific questions about construction of compost piles. I think in this area, where everyone goes outside, it would be fairly straightforward to construct compost heap cum latrines. We're all hoping the next AJWS volunteers will pursue this further, at least starting with composting of organic trash. If anyone is interested, Joe Jenkin's very funny and informative book The Humanure Handbook is available online at weblife.org.

My proudest accomplishment, is that I learned the names of every attendent at the trainings.
My favorite question, came at the end of the day of course: "Madame, can you please explain what is nanotechnology?"

The last module was about musculoskeletal issues with emphasis on prevention with daily practice of Surya Namaskar. The Surya Namaskar, or Sun Salutation, is a pretty accesible series of yoga postures that stretches all the major muscles, gets the blood and breath flowing, and can be practiced on deeper levels to cultivate inner calm and mindfulness. We also did some pranayama (breathing exercises). The field staffers totally got into it. For some of the women, it was their first time wearing salwar khameez suits since their wedding (usually married women only wear saris, and it's hard to do yoga in a sari). Everyone really appreciated that this incredible Yoga practice is their own native wisdom tradition, their inheritance.

Lastly, Asha taught a short course on Su Jok (more on Su Jok in my next post about Jaipur). The initial levels are very accessible, and a really great modality for people to use for themselves, especially when doctors are rare and expensive. She was her usual dynamic, charismatic self and did a great job.

It was all pretty intense, and I loved it! After it was all over, we had a meeting with all the staffers and they presented me with some gifts and told me how much they appreciated the trainings. I was really holding back the tears. I left very soon after the last training -- I had to get to Jaipur for an advanced Su Jok course and it's 1800 kms away!