Upon arrival at the first field stop in Dala Khuta, we pull into a property just off of a main highway. Set back from the road against the side wall of a shop is a large water tank labelled “Spring Health.”
This is an “autopurifier” water filtration system, owned and maintained by the entrepreneur at this location. Spring Health also uses “electrochlorination”, a purification method that involves manually adding chlorine to water. Chlorine is produced at Spring Health field offices and distributed regularly to entrepreneur locations. All water processed by Spring Health is carefully monitored for quality control.
Waiting to greet us at the first field stop are Mona Lisha and Lohit Mohapatra, the entrepreneurial couple responsible for running this Spring Health water purification and distribution location. They are joined by Krupa Sindhu Paltasingh, Spring Health Director of Operations; Ramesh Sutar, Manager of Finances; and Dillip Kumar Jena, the Sales Coordinator.
With warm smiles on their faces and flower bouquets in hand to give us, the group welcomes us to this location. Lohit has taken time off from his other job for our visit. He does pre-delivery inspection of vehicles being delivered to Bangladesh, and Mona Lisha is a lecturer in the domain of Organizational Behaviour at a nearby college.
At this point, all Spring Health entrepreneurs have jobs in addition to their work with water purification and distribution. Spring Health is an additional venture for them, but it does not yet generate enough income to be their sole means of income.
When asked why they have decided to work with Spring Health, Lohit explains that for him it is both the opportunity to help others and the additional income that appeal to him.
Even before working with Spring Health, Lohit was delivering water to an orphanage to help that community. Dr. Polak comments that Lohit and Spring Health have similar reasons for doing this work. Lohit and Mona Lisha seem to me to be gentle, strong people. In addition to their work-related responsibilities, the couple also cares for their two children, the older of whom is a son with cerebral palsy. They have been running this Spring Health location since January 2017.
Now that it has been put on Google Maps, they are getting calls from Bhubaneswar city, some distance away. But even closer to home, there are 7,000 people living within a 2km radius of where they are.
There is an ongoing potential for impact.