Today we got quite a bit of progress, especially after the local masons arrived. We got part of the canal cemented, which was very rewarding for all of us who really needed some encouragement. Also, I’m no longer as frustrated about the lack of planing because it turned out that Navin had a sufficient idea of what needed to be done, the costs involved, etc, even though he didn’t have a detailed engineering map. Navin had it all in his head: what sector of the village was suffering most from water loss, which parts of the canal needed reinforcement, etc. This certainly was reassuring, even though, we still had a problem of planning and consistency, because as it turned out the District government had built the existing irrigation canals (at at least the vast majority of them) about 24 years ago. So essentially, we have been working on top of their work without any idea of the initial plans. This can be very frustrating at times, or very rewarding in some cases, as was the case today when we accidentally found the bottom of the canal from 24 years ago about a foot below the level where we were digging. Hah. This way we saved 8000 Rupees worth of materials.
Lucy Rodina
DWC Participant
Nepal 2010
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