Ujire, Karnataka

Ujire is shown by the little "A" on this map

Its about time I started learning about the place I'll be headed to! A good place to start would be to learn how to pronounce Ujire... OO-Jeer- uh? Uh-Gire? ooh-Jeer-ey?

I think I may have to consult an expert on that one. Anyway, its a rural town about 80 mins inland from Mangalore which is home to a university called SDM Institute of Technology which is where SELCO's innovation lab is situated. The official language in the area (and the state) is Kannada (pronounced like this)and they eat mostly veggie food round there.

Karnataka is on the south west of India, north of Kerala and south of Goa as you follow the coastline. Its capital is Bangalore (Bengaluru) which is India's IT hub and the country's third biggest city. It's been nicknamed the Garden City, India's silicon valley, Pub City and even - though perhaps not any more- pensioner's city. I guess all these are fairly self explanatory, but paint the city to be a vibrant and contrasting place. 

It turns out that although Kannada is the official language in the state, its most likely that the mother tongue of the local people where I'll be will be either Tulu or Konkani...

Lots more to come on this...

SELCO

The Solar Electric Light COmpany is the organisation I will be working for while in India.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCO_India and  http://www.selco-india.com/)

They don't just make solar panels and have branched out into other sustainable and accessible methods of producing energy, as well as lots of research and development into technologies and ideas that could help improve the lives of the (rural) poor. The organisation has won two Ashden Awards due to their efforts to improve access to energy. The organisation have already provided solar lighting to 125,000 homes and plans to provide access for many more. It focuses on enabling people to make change in their own lives and has initiatives like campaigning for banks to provide microfinance packages for the rural poor, and helping people to use the technology to create their own businesses.

When SELCO was set up in the 90's by Dr. Harish Hand - there were three myths that he wanted to dispel:

1) Poor people cannot afford sustainable technologies; 
2) Poor people cannot maintain sustainable technologies; 
3) Social ventures cannot be run as commercial entities.

Now that all sounds very exciting to me.. And it sounds like they're already proving some of these statements wrong.

Energy poverty is a concept I have been interested in for a while. Access to affordable and clean methods of lighting, heating, communication and cooking has huge effects on the quality of life of people in developing nations. I plan to write a post about this massive topic sometime in the future.


SELCO currently works mostly in Karnataka and Gujurat, and I will be based in their research and development lab in Ujire, Karnataka, South Western India.


SELCO lab's website which gives a bit of information about the developments currently taking place (here). The Bangalore part of the labs generally focusses on developments for the urban poor, while the Ujire lab (where I'll be) has a larger focus on poverty in a rural setting.

Engineers Without Borders UK

I'm off to India for 3 months with an organisation called Engineers Without Borders UK ( http://www.ewb-uk.org/). They send young engineering graduates to developing countries to work on exciting projects which aim to tackle poverty. The central idea of the organisation is that some of the barriers to development can be removed using engineering skills.  In addition to setting up placements from between 3 and 12 months, EWB-UK supports research projects which contribute to similar aims, provides training for students and young professionals, as well as funding outreach and education programmes to give more people an idea of the global issues it seeks to tackle.

EWB runs placements all over the world, supported by a bunch volunteers in the UK who make things happen. They are based in Cambridge, although my interviews for the placement were held in ARUP's head office in London (who are a supporter of EWB-UK). 

I first got involved with EWB at Loughborough Uni - although that branch of the network only really started up in my final year. I have always wanted a chance to combine two of my great passions- engineering and international development- and EWB give me a fantastic chance to do that!

EWB-UK have plenty going on across the country, so do check out their website.