How to Solve a Problem like Himani
March 28
It’s so hot here!
Golu was very naughty today. She climbed up a slant and would not come down. Silly goat!
Seema and Gullu had to help me get her down.
March 30
I can see the snow-capped Himalayan peaks–Nandakot, Maiktoli, Panchachuli, Chaukhamba. But Kumaon is dry. Gullu and I help Ija and Baujyu* get water from the pump down the road, or from the stream further down. Ooof! Wish the water could reach us directly from the snowy mountains. Drinking water is difficult to get even in January, when it snows.
*Ija and Baujyu: Kumaoni words for ‘mother’ and ‘father’.
April 2
Our ten-day summer workshop with Reena didi started today. She has come from Mumbai. She asked us thousands of questions! What do you like about school? What do you not like about school? How do you commute to school? Suddenly she turned to me and asked the meaning of my name.
"Himani means snow," I said.
Why does she ask so many questions?
April 3
What a fun day it was! We played a game. One of us needed to think of a problem that we might have faced and state it in the form of a question. Then another classmate had to ask a question related to it.
It was almost like a chain story. We had so many questions!
Why can’t we have a pipe straight from the How can we get clean melting glaciers? drinking water in school?
Why do you ask Why do we need clean water? such questions? Where will the water come from?
Why don’t we concentrate Where will we get a water filter from? on our water problem? Why can’t we make it? Who knows how to make one?
Why can’t we have a water filter?
April 4
We were surfing the Internet when I found this chart:

SOLVE ANY PROBLEM, STEP BY STEP
> Identify the problem. > Find out everything you can about the problem. > Discuss. > Decide on the most suitable idea. > Try it out. > If you succeed, very good! > If not, try another idea.
Could we really solve a problem using this method?
April 5
At school, we made a list of our problems. How many problems do we have?
BIG PROBLEMS

No direct water at Landslides home or school
Slippery roads to school during Leeches in our socks the monsoon during the rains.
Neighbours who No hospital or get violent after clinic near by drinking
PROBLEMS WE CAN SOLVE

Heavy school bag Unclean drinking water
Plastic bottles everywhere Unlit paths at night
April 6
Worked with Ija and Baujyu in the cauliflower patch. Then ran to school for problem-solving day! We went out in pairs to the library, and to talk to our teachers and to each other. Then we came back to class.
1. Identify: The problem is unfiltered drinking water at school. Students keep falling sick because of this.
2. Find out: Why is getting clean water a problem here? Many streams around Kumaon are supposed to have pure water. There are no streams near our school.
3. Discuss: We found out that some people use cloth. This only filters bigger sediments, not harmful bacteria. Manorama said they have a small water filter at home. Moringa seeds in water pots help purify water, said a teacher.
4. Decide: Would a water purifier help us?
Try it out!
Pebbles We all drew water filters! We decided Moringa Seeds we needed one that could be attached to the nozzle of our water drum.

Coarse Sand Santosh bhai and Ashish bhai, our seniors, helped us make a water filter based on our drawings. They have Charcoal taken a few days off from college to make a water catchment system in Fine Sand our school. The filtered water tasted so fresh and clean!
Cloth
April 11
In the last three days, we’ve done a lot of art. We have applied the problem-solving method to come up with more ideas.
Cycle Plough Does not require cattle or a tractor to pull it. Good for narrow step farms.
Bottle Torch Torch made with recycled parts. Fitted inside a discarded plastic bottle, so that dampness does not spoil it. Dampness spoils battery- operated torches very quickly in this region.
Mini-irrigator Drip irrigation for crops like grapes that need soil to stay hydrated. Made with recycled water bottles, attached to plants like IV tubes in hospitals.
April 13
Now that the workshop is over, we’re all busy with harvesting and packing apricots, pears, apples and rhododendron flowers. Ija and Baujyu are so nimble and good at picking fruits! Not me. Yesterday, I slipped and twisted my ankle while picking fruit. No fracture, thank God!
I wish I had a gadget that could pick fruits for me! Maybe we could train Golu and the other goats to pick fruits, ha, ha.
Seriously, how wonderful it would be to have an efficient, safe, eco-friendly apple-picking machine!
Satkhol Tales
