In Search of Water

I work with young media makers around the world who want to produce powerful visual media on climate change issues. We are a small non-profit determined to grow and inspire the changes necessary for our collective survival. We are called Project Survival Media.

I founded PSM in 2009 when I was just 22 years old. Our vision was so big and bold. We wanted to do so much and we did. But in some places we sacrificed quality for quantity. In 2010 I sat down at the drawing board again and decided to build a program that would uncover how local leaders around the globe are helping their communities adapt to climate change. But this time, we would also build an infrastructure that would more closely support the youth we were working with.

Our program, Solutions for Survival, has assembled two media teams, one in India and one in Kenya. We have learned so much together. One of our biggest learnings is around our actual model. The structure though which all of our work is done. We realized that if we want to be in many places at once having the kind of impact our world needs, we need a model that can scale quickly and efficiently and can hold up under pressure.

I'm proud of the work we've done and the pieces we've been able to produce as a result. One of our featured videos is on water security issues in the great Indian desert of Thar, one of the most water-stressed areas in India.

Research shows that with about 200 millimeters of average annual rainfall, every one in five years is a drought year. Some areas of the Thar Desert have no ground water or in some parts the water is extremely salty because of this people often have no access to fresh water.

Rainwater is the only source of potable drinking water. People of Thar Desert have gone back to their roots, which at the heart is focused on conservation and employs traditional systems of rainwater harvesting. This helps the community fulfill their water requirement during prolonged dry spells, even in peak summers.

In search of water is a short documentary film that brings to life a powerful story in which community members pool together their collective knowledge and build a system that keeps water close to home. We share this story in the hopes that these practices will enable more communities to survive in areas that climate change is projected to increase or create severe drought.