Though our car is stopped in the morning traffic rush, there is no shortage of activity going on around the vehicle. Motorbikes attempt to squeeze through the gridlock of cars and auto rickshaws crammed full of passengers. People look for handouts, walking up to car windows and hoping for responses from those inside stopped vehicles. Large trucks decorated in bright and busy paintings hum aside small motos, everyone eager to inch forward. Dust and engine exhaust rise into the air and descend on vehicles and people alike. Though the sound of honking horns is constant, it seems to be more about drivers saying “hello I’m here” than “move.” Assertive but not angry.
It’s a Monday morning in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state of Odisha, India. Today is the first day of field visits for a small group working together to lead, manage, and fund a social enterprise called Spring Health. We’re on our way to our first “field visit.”
Spring Health works to “design and build income raising businesses by stimulating entrepreneurial activities among low-income populations to deliver products/services that meet critical needs.” Established in 2011, it currently employs 47 full-time employees and partners with entrepreneurs to fulfill its purposes.
En route to our first village visit, Dr. Paul Polak sits in the front seat of the hired van and Gerry Dyck, my dad, sits in the seat behind him. As Paul shares ideas about business and international development work, Gerry doesn’t hesitate to jump into the conversation. The two friends have been sharing ideas like this for over 30 years. It started with a project selling donkey carts in Somalia in the early 1980s, which led to the creation of NGO International Development Enterprises (IDE).
Though time has passed and they’ve lived in different countries for the last number of decades, now together on this trip they joke with each other just as they might have in the early days of IDE. During one field visit they sing a duet prompted by the giving of flowers. Really a unique moment to witness.
The people gathered together to explore and develop Spring Health this week are from various work backgrounds and geographical locations, but all have a common interest in making it possible for entrepreneurs in rural India to sell clean water to their communities. They also have a common contact, which is Dr. Polak. In addition to Dr. Polak, Jacob Mathew, Kathie Michie, Stephan Reckie, Gerry Dyck, and Rachel Dyck (me) have come from various places in India and North America to be part of this trip.
Our hosts are Spring Health CEO Kishan Nanavati and Director of Operations Krupa Sindhu Paltasingh as well as other Spring Health staff members. Krupa does much translating for us, which allows us to ask questions of entrepreneurs and customers face-to-face and receive their replies.
After quite a while stopped in traffic, vehicles start to move and our driver manoeuvers the busy streets skillfully amidst the ongoing presence of large trucks, motorcycles, wandering cows, bicycles, and pedestrians darting about. A regular morning commute in Bhubaneswar. What “the field” holds for us I am not exactly sure; being new to Spring Health, I have limited knowledge of how the organization works. I am a tag-along on this adventure. Taking photos, writing key facts, recording snippets of conversations that take place during village visits – these will be my tasks.
We will take the next few days to try and understand how Spring Health functions by having conversations with the Spring Health team and encounters with entrepreneurs and customers. The first-hand experience of meeting with people in the field is key to meaningful learning. We have come here for exactly this reason.
Spring Health partners with entrepreneurs (local distributors) to provide clean water to customers in 218 of the 48,000 villages in Odisha State. In India, there are said to be some 500,000 villages (the overall country has a population of over one billion people). Spring Health’s mandate is to offer people clean drinking water in rural areas, with a particular interest in understanding how to reach out to those living in extreme poverty. The Government of India has set up wells in rural areas throughout India, however much of the water drawn from these wells is unsafe to drink. An additional challenge related to these wells, explains Jacob at one point, is that 95% of the government-sponsored wells are not working within five years of being built. And the wells and attached systems can end up being vandalized.
Spring Health, in contrast, consistently delivers quality water to customers. For 5 to 7 rupees per day, customers receive 10L of clean water delivered to their home. For either 10 or 15 rupees (depending on the water purification system used), customers receive 20L of clean water, also delivered. Some families continue to use the government wells even in villages where Spring Health water is available, but many of those who have started buying Spring Health water have found that their health – and lives – are being impacted for the better.