I think it’s pretty well established that world leaders are busy people. It’s hard to imagine that when they make a daily list of their most pressing priorities, “Answer letter from ordinary person A” might be near the top. The problems of world leaders are not at the micro level, but the macro. They have the incredibly complicated task of taking in  and working with the wider view almost all the time.

However, I am also aware that they are people too, with personal stories and complicated histories and this is the person I tried to write to recently when I drafted a short letter to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Writing to a prime minister and hoping for a response is just another symptom of my optimistic nature but I’m lucky that my optimism is sprinkled with enough realism to prevent me from being personally heart broken if no response comes.  I wrote to explain my project to Mr. Modi and to ask if he would be interested in being a part of my research and mini documentary. In light of the work I’m doing it would be a huge gaff on my part if I didn’t at least attempt to contact him, since his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiative is a driving force behind a lot of the SWM work that is being done by the organizations and individuals I’m going to be talking to during my trip. Writing a simple letter risks nothing, while the gains in knowledge and perspective if he responds would be immense.

I have read that Modi is very good about responding to the concerns of the Indian people, and while I am an outsider in every sense, I can only hope (there’s that optimism again) that he sees enough value in what I have been doing for the last 8 months to reach out, however briefly it may be, to offer his insight.

Excerpt from the letter:

“My research has brought me into contact with many of your hard working countrymen and women who are passionate about building a cleaner India. I am visiting India from September 20^th until November 24^th to connect with these individuals in person, to hear their stories and to learn from their experiences. I will be documenting the trip to create a short documentary that will hopefully showcase the tremendous work that is being done.

I hope through learning from the stories of these ‘swachhatagrahis,’ [Cleanliness Warriors] that the wider world will start to change its stereotyped views of India. Instead of seeing a dirty country filled with ambivalent citizens, they will see the creative and resourceful populace that has always been India’s pride.”

I sent the letter both via Mr. Modi’s website portal and via post. At the latest, the physical letter should reach his office in New Delhi by September 10th – 10 days before I am scheduled to leave for India.

And yes, since I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet – I’ve decided that since I will be filming and taking audio for this trip, I should make it into a documentary. It will be an intense challenge both from an experience and technology perspective. (I’m only able to bring a GoPro, audio recorder and lavalier mic. I took a short online course on documentary film making that ended a few weeks ago in the hopes that this will prepare me a bit more. (Yes, all you film students giggle away. I know.). It is highly likely that in order to make an effective film I will have to return to India at least one or two more times down the road, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

With the bulk of my pre-trip research reading over, I turn now to reading shorter articles from local and national newspapers out of India to understand some of the micro-issues within the waste management and sanitation scheme. (I was doing this along the way as well but now I will be more focused on it.). Also, I will be preparing followup interview questions for those individuals and groups I will be meeting with in India. As long as the pre-trip research has taken, I know I haven’t even scratched the surface. This is both exciting and a little overwhelming – but that’s to be expected.

In the coming week, I’ll be updating all my supporters on how they can best follow my activities while I am in India. Thank you to all who have helped me in this. Even though I am traveling solo to India, make no mistake –It’s impossible to do this kind of thing alone, so thank you.

-Ashley

 

 

 

Hello all!

I realize that I haven’t updated you in a while about the actual research end of what I’m doing. Currently, I’m nearing the end of a 400 page PhD dissertation paper from Aman Luthra which I’ve found extremely enlightening and very interesting. Honestly, the more I read on the subject the more interested I get, but this particular paper is very well organized and chock full of useful information. So far, I have typed up 25 pages of notes from it. It’s such a lengthy document that I’m not going to go into much detail here about the specifics of the each chapter, but the paper addresses  the relationship between informal waste actors, and attempts to formalize the system through various modes of disposal (Compost, WtE, Vermicomposting etc). In particular, it focuses on the effect newly minted WtE plants in India have had, or are likely to have on informal waste actors in the future. This paper clarifies a lot of the questions I had about how the structure of Indian politics and society effects legislation on waste management. It also clarifies how different relationships within the waste stream are organized, how they function, and what happens when they fail. Aside from reviewing the updated SWM laws now in effect in India, this is likely to be the last large text reference I’ll be reading before my trip. I’m reading small articles here and there all the time though and each one adds another layer of depth to my understanding.

While I’m in India I’ll be bringing along enough notes and materials to help me connect the dots, make references and ask informed questions. I’ll also be doing some research into documentary film making, so that I can apply that to the research video and audio I’ll be taking.

Covanta Facility Visit

This afternoon a representative from the Stanislaus Covanta WtE facility was kind enough to show my around the site and answer my questions. The site is about an hour and a half from where we live in Burlingame, CA and services Stanislaus County, including the city of Modesto.

It’s nearly identical to the facility I visited in Lancaster County, PA except perhaps a bit smaller. The real value of the trip was in being able to ask questions that came up after my first visit and get clarification on specific knowledge I would need for my trip to India. We spent a good amount of the visit discussing India and it gave me a chance to really organize some of my thoughts on the issue of SWM in both countries. Now that I’m home I have some follow-up questions (I always do) but all and all I’m just glad for the chance to visit sites like this. There used to be a show I’d watch called “How it’s Made” which did a lot of filming in factories and industrial sites, so visiting sites in person reminds me of that and I get a little nerdy about it.

The next post is going to be a little special, so keep your eyes peeled for that one. =)

-Ashley

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone,

I’ve finally compiled everything I’m going to be taking with me to India for two months. I wanted to make a video about everything I’m packing to show those who have supported me that I am using their funds as efficiently as possible. I want to be able to complete the best work I can while in India and to do that I’ve been researching the best packing methods and supplies for ease of travel.

As I mentioned in my GoFundMe page, I plan to bring everything I need for two months in ONE carry-on backpack. No purse, no laptop bag, no suitcase. Below is the video you can watch to get more details and below that is a detailed packing list.

 

 

PACKING LIST: ***Edits in BLUE***

Clothes:

3 Quick dry T-shirts

1 Regular “work” or lounge T-shirt

1 Pair of lounge shorts

2 pairs of quick dry pants (1 yoga, 1 traveling)

1 2 Long, quick dry, long black skirt (One black, one blue)

1 Long sleeved shirt

1 Black tank top for layering

1 Formal blouse

1 waterproof rain jacket  Traded this out for a smaller/lighter travel umbrella. Safes space and will protect my bag too.

3 Pairs of quick dry wool socks

3 pairs of underwear

3 bras

1 Extra pair of shoes

1 Scarf

 

Tech:

-GoPro Hero Camera

-Sony Handheld Audio Recorder

-Charger cables (phone, camera, recorder)

-Plug converter

-Cell phone

 

Safety:

-PacSafe ExoMesh

-Door Stop/jam

 

Toiletries:

-Shampoo bar

-Body bar

-face cloth

-medicine (Rx, anti-malaria, anti-biotics)

-first aid

-Hand sanitizer

-Diva Cup

-Water purification pills

-Re-hydration salts

-Invisalign retainer

-small roll of toilet paper

-bug spray

-deodorant

-Sun block

-comb

 

Misc:

-small tripod

-notebook

-2 folders

-writing utensils

-eye mask

-ear plugs

-money belt

-business cards

-flash light

-Guide book chapters for specific cities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I started this research project, I did it with a fare amount of uncertainty as to what I hoped to achieve from it. I knew I wanted to educate myself so I could eventually be helpful, but beyond that very vague goal, I was essential following the path that the research was laying out for me. That ambiguity is obvious in my initial GoFundMe proposal and is probably why it has been so slow to gain support. (Although those that have supported me have gone above and beyond and I am forever grateful for that). I get it though. I could have waited another year -read some more, solidified my goals more, but the issue I am trying to tackle needed a solution 40 years ago, so I felt that even if I did not have all the pieces to the puzzle, I needed to start connecting what I had.

As I have read more, and spoken to more individuals invested in waste management issues in India, that fuzzy ambiguity has been replaced by a sharper clarity about what I hope to accomplish and how I hope to do it. This is very exciting for me because I feel like even if I am wrong about my direction, I at least have a jumping off point.

As mentioned before, one issue that comes up again and again is the problem of awareness. The general public just doesn’t know how waste management is working or not working in their city, what the benefits are, who is working hard toward improvements, what kind of help they need, and how they can help.

NGOs, Municipalities and PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships) seem to be doing their best with awareness campaigns but I feel like more can be done and I’d like to enlist the help of local street artists to do that. If awareness is the issue, there’s nothing harder to remain oblivious too that an enormous piece of wall or public art. Art can also convey a message without the need for written language, and with a large illiterate population in some of the poorest and most waste-burdened areas of India, it’s critical that messages be displayed clearly without the burden of the written word.

Murals are a long-time passion of mine. I did a few at a teenager and have always wanted to do them again. For the purposes of this research and this project however, I think it’s important for me to put aside that desire and do everything I can to support Indian artists in this endeavor, because the goal is to communicate a message, and I think it will be better received by Indians if the messenger is from one of their countrymen/women than from an outsider, however well meaning her intentions might be.

I am going to be reaching out to street artists in India to explain my ideas and research and hopefully collaborate with them on a large scale project to change the face of India with their art while also communicating important information to help change people’s relationship with waste. I’ll also ask them about work they may have already done in this area and see if I can lend support to existing projects. If you know of any street artists, famous or not, who you think I should speak to during my stay in India, here are the cities I will be in:

• New Delhi
• Raipur (Chattisgarh)
• Bengaluru
• Pune
• Mumbai
• Udaipur
• Jaipur
• Varanasi
• Rishikesh