Flood survivors in southeast India stand in front of their destroyed home. Photo by Father Jijo Murthanatt for CRS

“When the flood hit, the water rose from my feet to my waist in five minutes,” says Kasturi, a 20-year-old mother who is nine months pregnant. “My husband put our two daughters on his shoulders, one on each side. We walked about a mile in the water.”

Like tens of thousands of impoverished villagers in Andhra Pradesh, an area in southeastern India, Kasturi and her family escaped the flood with their lives and nothing else. Most people from Kasturi’s village went to a railway platform that stood above the floodwaters in a neighboring district, sleeping there until the waters receded.
When they went back after three days, there was little to salvage. “Our house is mud now,” says 20-year-old Adam, another villager. “Just completely filled with mud.” Some managed to dig up a few pots, pans or the jute sifters they need to sift rice.
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As a series of natural disasters continues to pummel Asia, CRS is helping impoverished victims of severe flooding that hit south India on October 2 and only receded several days later.

“I’ve never seen a tidal wave, but this is the kind of damage I imagine a tidal wave would look like,” says CRS’ Katherine Cunliffe of the damage in Andhra Pradesh. “Flood waters rose up to 14 feet in some areas. Houses have been destroyed and there is mud and silt everywhere.”
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From Patrick Nicholson, Caritas communications officer:

Over 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes due to heavy rains and flooding in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in South India.

Caritas India fears the worse is still to come with more rains forecast, threatening to burst river banks and dams and inundate vast areas.
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A group of students from Austin, TX, recently visited CRS’ HIV and AIDS program in India. Liza Manjarrez, a campus minister who accompanied them, reflects on the trip:

For over a year, I had been planning an international immersion trip to India. The trip, for students, would focus on building community, doing justice, living simply, and engaging spiritually.
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Thousands of people across Assam, India are dealing with flooding brought on by incessant rainfall that began in late June. In some areas, rivers continue to rise above danger levels, according to CRS staff reports.

In response, Catholic Relief Services and our local partners are currently assisting 600 families with water purifying tablets, hygiene kits and information on healthy sanitation practices. Food, potable water and medical attention are among the immediate needs of residents, according to CRS staff.
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On Monday, CRS Communications Officer Liz O’Neill asked Jennifer Poidatz, CRS Country Representative for India, to comment on the film Slumdog Millionaire. Poidatz said that, whatever the films merits or drawbacks, it accurately portrays Mumbai slums.

A very large slum area where families sort through garbage and recycle everything from glass to plastic to wire, to paper. Photo by Karl Grobl/CRS

In an article in Republican American (please note, article contains graphic discussion of treatment of child beggars), CRS India staffer Deepa Sundara Rajan, concurs with Poidatz assessment.

From the article: “The film, ‘is a pretty realistic presentation of the way the slums are,’ Deepa Sundara Rajan, of Catholic Relief Services in India, told me. The slums of Mumbai take up about 50,000 acres and most of those who live there are migrants, driven from their impoverished villages to the city of a million dreams.”

“Both Catholic Relief Services and Save the Children have posts in India, where its workers do not deny the obvious, but strive, as ‘Slumdog’s’ critics might, to improve the life of India’s estimated 200,000 child beggars, who make our recession look like a day on Easy Street.”

India is a fascinating mix of amazing facts and contradictions. Despite the many benefits that India’s privileged classes have secured after a decade of impressive economic growth, the lives of hundreds of millions of poor and marginalized continue to stagnate in poverty and malnutrition, many of them in the slums depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionnaire.”

CRS Communications Officer Liz O’Neill asked Jennifer Poidatz, CRS Country Representative for India, to comment on the film.

Liz
There has been so much talk here in the United States about degree and magnitude of poverty portrayed in the film. Are the slums of Mumbai accurately depicted in the movie?
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Latrines. Maybe they don’t make your list of Things I Get Excited About. But for Katherine Westphal, water and sanitation technical advisor for CRS in India, latrines are all about delivering health, in this case to people driven from their homes by massive flooding.

The Q&A that follows is the third of three parts that give insight into living conditions for thousands of people forced to evacuate after floodwaters tore through Bihar, India in August. See part 1 here and part 2 here.

Caroline Brennan, CRS regional information officer in India for the past three years, provided the questions.

Why water and sanitation as a focus, as opposed to other needs?

As a water and sanitation engineer I am extremely biased, but I still consider water and sanitation as one of the most important components of human survival. In an emergency setting, safe and sufficient water is a critical determinant of health.

Locally available materials such as jute stem (reeds) and bamboo are used to create durable latrines. Photo by CRS staff

What would you say to people who can’t imagine working in such difficult conditions and so far from your family?

I would be honest and say that it can be really difficult and lonely at times. Around holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July I especially miss home, but it is really incredible to feel like I am making a difference. I would also say that although the conditions can be really difficult at times (i.e. no electricity, running water or A/C) the job never gets dull. Every day in the “office” is a new day with exciting challenges.

What do you hope people understand about this emergency?

Floods in this area are not typical so the affected population were not in the least bit prepared. As the flood waters arrived, many fled from their homes with only the clothes on their backs. Not only have the floods severely impacted homes, but they have damaged crops and taken with them livestock. Recovery from this emergency is going to be a long and slow process. Breached river embankments must be patched, silt and sand carried by the flood waters removed from fields, and for many, entire communities rebuilt.

Are there any issues of concern that you think are especially important for reporters to cover with regard to the current stage of this disaster?

Now that we passed the initial response phase, I think it is important for reporters to cover how the flood-affected population is dealing with the disaster at individual level. We are only beginning to comprehend that magnitude of psychosocial trauma the floods have caused.

Latrines. Maybe they don’t make your list of Things I Get Excited About. But for Katherine Westphal, water and sanitation technical advisor for CRS in India, latrines are all about delivering health, in this case to people driven from their homes by massive flooding.

The Q&A that follows is the first of three parts that give insight into living conditions for thousands of people forced to evacuate after floodwaters tore through Bihar, India in August.

Caroline Brennan, CRS regional information officer in India for the past three years, provided the questions.

CRS water and sanitation engineer Katherine Westphal helps children displaced by the flood each get a stick with a red flag before going on their game to search for areas of open defecation. Photo by CRS staff

Many people aren’t quite sure what latrines are, or may just understand that it’s a hole in the ground. Can you explain what it is you’re building?

The shallow trench latrine is not like your typical pit latrine (i.e. a hole in the ground) found throughout US State Parks. Rather, it is a semi-enclosed communal structure with a long trench (about 2 feet deep and 10 inches wide) that runs the length of the latrine. For privacy, the trench is partitioned into 5 sections. With one foot on either of side of the trench, in a comfortable squatting position, human waste is disposed of safely. Once the trench is about half full it is back-filled with soil and a new adjacent trench is dug.<\p>

To reduce odors, the latrine is designed without a roof and ash is sprinkled into the trench periodically. In some cases, where the latrine is built facing an open flooded plane, the third wall is removed for increased air flow.

The design has a very open feel, almost like you are outdoors. By using locally available materials such as jute stem (reeds) and bamboo, we have created a durable and airy latrine. Sounds nice doesn’t it?!

How did you come up with this design?

The design took shape after speaking with flood-affected families about their common sanitation practices and preferences, and observing that pit latrines are seldom used. In this area of Bihar, the majority of the flood-affected people practice open defecation. Therefore it is understandable that the concept of a smelly, enclosed pit latrine would feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar.

Rather than do what is most difficult in this field (create behaviour change), I decided to work with the current practices and add in a few modifications. There were two key objectives with this latrine design; safe disposal of human waste and privacy for men and women throughout the day. Along a 25 mile stretch of a canal embankment, where tens of thousands of displaced people are seeking shelter, there is limited space for open defecation. As a result, men, women and children are defecating directly into the canal or moving to open areas under the shelter of night. Under these circumstances, women feel especially vulnerable and tend to travel in groups between 10pm and 3am to defecate.

How does an American girl get into this line of work? (What do your parents think?!)

Funny you should ask! With an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering I joined Peace Corps as a water and sanitation engineer in Panama. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into but quickly developed a passion for this line of work. It can be a little dirty (and smelly!) at times, but what greater gift can one give than clean water and a comfortable toilet?

Really, if my parent’s weren’t so supportive I could never live in these remote regions of the world. I do think that they wonder how someone who enjoys the luxuries of the United States can spend her days in defecation fields!

What are the biggest challenges in what you do?

I find that the biggest challenge in what I do is that I can never do enough. There will always be people without clean water and at times I feel very small in what I can accomplish.

I also find it really challenging being a woman in this field. In parts of the world where female engineers are uncommon of it takes a lot of energy to be heard.