Bringing water and sanitation to slums
My father is a structural engineer. When I was eight, the whole family moved to India, where he designed water and sanitation for all the slums in Indore city. That was the start of my interest in engineering: I saw that it was not just about technology. Once the slum communities received water and sanitation they invested their own resources into improving the housing and environment, and after a few years they looked more like middle-income settlements.
I got a Bachelor in Engineering at Gujarat University. Then I studied urban planning at the Centre for Environment, Planning and Technology, in Ahmedabad. I joined my father to work in the slums for about seven years.
In 2001 I was about to return to England when the Gujarat earthquake struck. I was one of the volunteer engineers who went in to help. I spent three months assessing damage to 60 buildings through a rapid visual assessment set up by CEPT. The key challenge was to manage the expectations of the residents in relation to compensation and also allay their fears. They were surprised to see a young woman engineer.
In England I joined Buro Happold for three years and managed to get a Chartership with the Institute for Civil Engineers. I worked on a Middle Eastern project (to help manage the impact of long droughts followed by seasonal flooding) and - in complete contrast - on track realignment at Ascot Race Course. An interesting part was drawing sightlines to ensure that the Queen could see the races clearly!
In 2003 I went to Cambridge to do a Masters at the Centre for Sustainable Development. I got a scholarship to stay on and do a PhD, looking at the impact of sanitation in slums. I did 700 house interviews in the slums of India and South Africa. My research shows that integrated infrastructure (water-sanitation, electricity, roads etc) has a positive impact on health, education, income and housing. Also, investment in infrastructure generates a multiplier as the communities start investing in housing improvements.
I was moved by people’s generosity. There is a perception about slums being unsafe, dirty and unfriendly. Interventions like infrastructure provisions can improve lives and communities are willing to contribute and keep the settlement clean.
I’m currently based in the ARUP International Development Team set up by Jo da Silva . The mission of our team is sustainable development in developing counties. Right now I’m working on a sustainability tool to assesses poverty reduction and sustainability for large infrastructure projects (a joint ARUP/EAP venture called ASPIRE).
A lot of engineers believe that engineering can change the world – from my career so far you can see that I am one of them!
Dr. Priti Parikh is Senior Consultant at Arup in the international development team and she is also an active member of the Arup Poverty Action Network. She is a Charter Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, a member of Engineers without Borders. and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is also a member of the Women’s Engineering Society.
Comments
Ruth Wilson (UKRC moderator):
Hi Priti, Thank you for joining us on the UKRC blog. The slum dwellings of India were brought graphically to the attention of the world through the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Was that a fair depiction do you think? The scene where the boy is trapped in the ramshackle toilet that empties into the river below is a real testament to the impact of poor sanitation on the lives of the urban poor. Perhaps we need a new movie, Slumdog Engineer, to show the impact that engineers can have in such environments :-)
Priti Parikh:
Hi Ruth It has been a pleasure to talk to you and meet everyone in the network. Films like Slumdog Millionaire have certainly succeeded in highlighting the living conditions in slums and bringing them to a larger audience. It is worth noting that the examples in the film are non typical and should be treated with caution. The example of the boy being trapped in the ramshackle toilet however does highlight the poor environmental conditions in slums. Imagine a life without toilets and water taps... Water-sanitation does have a positive impact on health, education, incomes and housing and we certainly need to have more engineers working in this field to improve the environment and living conditions. My Phd research which was partially funded through EPSRC funding and Newnham College, Cambridge discusses how engineering in slums can change lives :-)
Rachel Tobbell:
Hi Priti Your story is inspirational and demonstrates the real difference that engineers can make in the world. Did you choose engineering as a career because you had a glimpse into the profession through your father or were there other factors that influenced your choice? Why do you think so few women choose to pursue engineering as a career?
priti parikh:
Hi Rachel I choose engineering as a career partly because of my father and partly because I liked maths and physics as subjects in school. I have never regretted joining engineering. I think that the general perception about engineering is that it is a dull and boring professional all about fixing nuts and bolts. School girls also feel that engineering is not glamorous or exciting or a high paying profession. I think we need more high flying women engineers as role models who can reach out to school girls and share stories to show how engineering can be satisfying as a career. The recession offers us a good opportunity to raise the profile of engineering amongst women and I hope we can make the most of this opportunity,. Priti
Helen Collier:
This makes really fascinating reading. I have just got back from a trip to Kenya and visited a number of projects set up to tackle the huge issue of Street Children thoughout Kenya - 3000 in Mombassa and 60,000 in Kenya as whole with a great percentage of these in Nairobi. I met a fabulous Kenyan woman in Mombassa who had won the contract to build new toilet blocks in the Street Children project. I will send her this link so she may well be able to comment.
Jane Clarke:
I really enjoyed reading your blog and as an engineer myself brought up in a family of engineers I couldn't help but notice that you yourself had experience of engineering at an early age, interestingly most of the other female engineers I know have similar backgrounds - is this something you too have noticed? I also wanted to say how important it is for young girls to see that engineering has a positive contribution to make to society and has a 'human face' - we know that attracts girls and I welcome your input on the blog to raise the profile of these types of roles.
Kaye Heyes:
I have really enjoyed reading your blog too, Priti. It's reassuring to know that there is so much work going on in sustainable engineering, making a real difference to the developing world. In your experience, is this an area that more girls/women are interested in than the more traditional approach to engineering?
Priti Parikh:
I will try and respond to all the comments: Helen, thanks for your forwarding on this link to the amazing lady tackling the issue of street children in Mombasa and Nairobi. it is interesting for me to hear that as a part of the solution she is providing toilet blocks and I would love to hear more about her work. It would be great if you would share with me the website of this lady. Jane, great to hear that you come from a family of engineers. I have met a few female engineers who have been influenced by family members but also now increasingly meeting younger engineers who are influenced more by the debate on the critical issues of poverty, sustainable development and climate change. If we have role models who can clearly demonstate how engineers can influence the three critical issues then I think that we will have more interest from young girls. Interestingly enough Newnham College, which is my college in Cambridge is running the \'Changing Lives\' campaign which aims to reach out to young girls in school to persuade them to enrol in the best universities and pursue education. I think that women engineers need to participate in those programs to encourage young women to consider engineering as a fulfilling career option. Kaye, thanks for your comment. The younger generation is now more aware of sustainable development and the resulting debates and discussions through the internet. In particular i find that women are more interested in working in multidisciplinary teams which lends itself well to addressing sustainable development(which is multi dimensional). In one of the recent UKRC event about women and recession there was also a comment made about how women tend to think longer term and also prefer collaboration which I think is much needed in engineering and the development world. Also women are not afraid of asking questions which is a must for working in the developing country context.
Ruth Wilson (UKRC moderator):
Hi Priti, Very interesting to hear that young engineers are increasingly drawn to the profession because of issues affecting humanity, such as climate change and poverty. It seems to me that engineering could be rebranded as a way to change the world and help solve major problems. It was lovely to meet you at the recession event (http://www.ukrc4setwomen.org/html/about-ukrc/influencing-policy/podcast-of-recession-debate-25-june). At the meeting, you mentioned the importance of micro finance to women in poor communities. Can you explain that a bit - and has it helped women and their communities to engage in the kind of engineering programmes you run?
Priti Parikh:
Likewise it was lovely to meet you at the recession event. Women generally take the brunt of poverty as they have to spend time on say collecting water and cleaning their houses. So their income generation opportunities get limited unless there are interventions which can free up their time. Interventions like say the provision of water and sanitation coupled with access to loans can enable women to be gainfully employed. Women also are the ones who traditionally save in the slum settlments of India so micro finance interventions targeted at women ensures that the households are builidng up assets and savings and not just spending money. Women in poor communities are more prone to environment related illnesses and often incur high expenditures on medicines etc. Savings can help women to have timely access to medicines.
Jan Peters:
Hi Priti It's great to hear about the places you have been and your amazing work. Who would you say has inspired you most and if it's someone in your family, who else outside of your family? WES will be at the British Science festival in September with some fun speed networking to help inspire sixth formers and returners - hope you can make it. :-)www.britishscienceassociation.org/forms/festival/events/showevent2.asp?EventID=125 and afterwards at our conference href=”http://www.conference.wes.org.uk”>www.conference.wes.org.uk See you there!
Ruth Wilson (UKRC moderator):
Hi Jan - the WES events sound great!
Priti Parikh:
Thanks Jan for updating me about the British Science festival. I will try and make it there as it looks good. I think my family has been my inspiration and they have always supported me on my crazy plans! See you at the event Jan.
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