It’s All A Blur

It was our last night before our final presentation to the community in Zuarinagar and I was in serious need of a caffeine boost. Our team – the infrastructure group – had been up the previous night preparing for a land use proposal to present to the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to try and get permissions to build a waste management system for industry owned land in the community. After the meeting with GIDC we spent the remaining hours of the day running around the city for supplies to get a prototype prepared for the next days presentation.

So, droopy eyed and slightly crabby from yesterdays events, we started our last day of the program at 12:00 AM sharp. Our presentation to the community was a continuation of what we pitched to GIDC – a solution for a waste management system to be implemented in and by local residents. We had proposed a permanent and temporary storage and organization system for which we needed to prototype one piece of the overall system. Luckily, right next door we had a metal smith to help start us off! The rest of the night went by quickly – we were covered in dirt, sweat and calluses from sawing and tying rough ropes all night. By around 7:00 AM we were done with the prototype and entirely out of it. The rest of the class were starting to wake up and get ready to meet the community – our group was told to stay behind and rejoin the others after getting some rest. To be truthful – it was all a blur from that point!

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After a quick swim, nap and doing final repairs to the prototype (it had accidentally been damaged by the resident dog) we headed out to Zuarinagar. The three groups presented their final designs to the crowd that came to attend the meeting – we had a positive and enthusiastic response to our proposals. Following the Q&A we all went to watch the Rangoli winner from yesterday demonstrate her rice flour designs and see the newly built bridge the Behavioural Change group had made for the kids. As we started to head back to the guesthouse we were given a loud and warm send off by all the local kids we had worked with for the three weeks.

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Back at the base we were caught between having nothing more to work on and still feeling like there was something left to happen. And despite our group being up for the last two nights our need for shuteye vanished – or at least got sidelined by the prospects of visiting the beaches in Goa again. It was our last chance to eat the amazing banana fritters from Johncy’s – the best seafood restaurant on Benaulim Beach.

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