Antonin an FSL India Volunteers Speaks on Mantra of Harvesting Everyday

Harvesting everyday could be the mantra of Water Literacy Foundation (WLF) where we are placed as volunteers to work on water issues. Based in Bangalore, this organisation is specialized in addressing water problems through efforts like rainwater harvesting.

Rainwater harvesting is a new concept for us as foreigner volunteers. We did not have experienced of rainwater harvesting in our home country. Indeed water problems and issues largely vary from country to country. In the western countries there are instances of river pollution, green tides that invades of seaweeds causing environmental hazard. India is also not free from water pollution issues. However, rainwater harvesting is one of such viable options to address scarcity of water and prevent water pollution as India receives adequate rainfall.

Rainwater harvesting systems involve usually three elements. One place to collect water, usually a rooftop or a field of a farmer, a filter to remove dust, leafs and other waste, and last but not least, a tank that is enough to have water for all the dry season. A genius idea is to use the ground as a huge tank and refill it thanks to a bore well.

As volunteers our work is mainly to find what to do. Create our tasks and take initiatives are very important for us to work as a team. Thus, we have liberty in this project and not just the timetable. The advantage is that we can be proud of what we do, seeing it as our own work. The other side of the coin is that sometimes, it is hard to be motivated. As a result there has been week when nothing has been done and weeks full of activity.

Antonin for the water warrior team aka Johan Jacob, Marcin and I.