By Jhamtse Gatsal Students Sonam L. and Lobsang D., Class XI

This region faces torrential rainfall every monsoon, but also faces severe water shortage for the rest of the year. Sustainability has always been a way of life at Jhamtse Gatsal, and in keeping with that ideal, we decided to implement simple rainwater harvesting systems in the Community. Several children and staff volunteered to be a part of this project for many reasons, but the primary reason was the vision of not just a fully sustainable Jhamtse Gatsal, but one that will be a centre for others to learn from.

Of all the buildings on campus, the children decided to pick the buildings which had maximum water consumption – the kitchen. In order to be more efficient, we split into groups, did a lot of research and came up with different ideas. Every group presented their ideas and were given feedback by the construction team and other who have experience in this space. The staff in each group help and guide us through this journey. One of the groups came up with the idea of setting up rainwater harvesting in the cob house from where the water can be routed to the kitchen tank. They also want to build a pond which will hold excess water. Due to the current lockdown due to the COVID pandemic, we are going to make the best of the available resources and have already started working on the projects. We hope that we will be able to do the best we can with the resources we have right now. 

The more I think about these projects, as one of the older children at Jhamtse Gatsal, I feel a responsibility: when we learn something here, we must take it beyond Jhamtse. We want to try things here and then educate others too. We want to pass our ideas on as our legacy to our younger brothers and sisters. In the course of these projects, we are not just learning to harvest rainwater but much more than we realize. Soon we will take this learning and share it with as many people as possible. We know that It may take a long time but initiating these small projects will make us reach our destination, our vision one step at a time.