We joined PPI (People for Progress in India) before leaving for our big India trip. PPI sponsors, supports, and funds projects in India. We visited the organization for one such project, GRAVIS, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in July 2000. We were taken both to the Tinvari hospital, then in construction, and to the Rampura village. Rampura is in the arid Thar Desert south of Jaisalmer.

The funds from PPI have been used for rainwater harvesting by building khadins and taankas. We first visited a farm where they had been installed. These are Surain's own words: "met the farmer who works it. He had farmed the same land for many years, and, with the new khadin, the yield was four times the prior yield."

She continues: "Then we went to a village home where we were greeted by about 20 women. A warm welcome had been planned for us!! The women were all dressed in their finest bright-colored dresses, with their heads and faces covered by their shawls in purdah fashion. They gathered in a tight group and, while singing a 'welcome' song, they slowly inched towards us, also a sign of welcome. Following this, our necks were garlanded with flowers and one of the women dipped a thumb in a red liquid and painted a red line down our noses and a dot on our foreheads. It was a tremendous honor, and we were both quite emotionally moved."

You can find her entire story here.

It is also still on the PPI website (http://www.ppi-usa.org) at http://www.ppi-usa.org/PPI_Files/site-visits/2000/Rampura.htm. This was easily the most moving ceremony we had ever had with village people in a developing country. Surain chose to donate some of her retirement money to the Tinvari hospital and to the Rampura village. And she wanted me to scatter some of her ashes in the village.

Elizabeth and I visited the Tyagi family in December and were warmly welcomed into their home. They are the founders of GRAVIS and the organization is headquartered in part of their house in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Shashi Tyagi guided us out to the Rampura village in the Thar desert. A welcoming lunch, all made from local village food, had been prepared for us in a community hall. As we met with village elders and GRAVIS people, musicians played and sang for us. As an honor, we were both asked to ride on a beautifully bedecked horse.

After lunch we proceeded to the place Surain and I had visited in July, 2000. Speeches were given both by women, sitting on our left, and men, sitting on our right, telling us how the money from Surain and our friends had been used - and then translated to us from Hindi. As a result of the donation, 49 taankas and 65 khadins have been built, and 4 self-help groups for women (with 11 women in each group) have been started. The rest of the donation had been earmarked for building 20 more taankas, 20 more khadins, 4 ponds, and 2 training centers for women.

For spreading Surain's ashes, we planted three trees and put her ashes around the trunks of the trees, as we covered them with soil. All the villagers were surrounding us. It was easy to see how thankful they were for Surain's gift, but also how sad they were during the ceremony.

I kept in frequent contact with GRAVIS (Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti or Center of People's Science for Rural Development). I was a little afraid to ask about the trees - had they died? All three were Neem trees, which grow in the desert in this area and are well adapted to the climate (click for more information). However, some years it does not rain at all, so there might be some concern. But GRAVIS assured me that they were all healthy.

I wanted to come back to Rajasthan to see the trees with my own eyes. The first opportunity came in October of 2004, when I traveled to India with my new wife, Ghislaine. But chance had it that there were border conflicts with Pakistan (Rampura is near the frontier), so the border area was closed to tourists.

We had better luck in 2008. Unfortunately, GRAVIS president and co-founder, L.C. Tyagi, had passed away. His son Prakash had taken over as the leader. Tyagi's wife and co-founder of GRAVIS, Shashi, was still very active in the organization. GRAVIS had a full program ready for us. To start with, a Convention on Water had been scheduled to match with our arrival. This important conference was aimed at helping the local villagers with better ways of preserving the scant water supply. As often in India, there were lots of speeches given in Hindi. I gave mine in English, which was translated to Hindi by Prakash.

We spent that night in one of GRAVIS' Field Centers in the desert. The following day, March 1, was to become one of those days that are etched into your memory, like an indelible mark. Just like I remembered the initial visit with Surain on July 10, 2000.

To start with, there was a big event in the Moda village. A little over a year earlier, the Magnihar and Mrashi communities had been struck by inundation (yes, even in the desert of Rajasthan!). They were all wiped out, with the exception of a few higher lying buildings. Ghislaine and I had been able to help rebuilding them by donating money via GRAVIS. The villagers themselves wanted to thank us, and that was why Shashi had brought us here. An incredible honor ... a sign had been erected in our name, we were bedecked with a (second) turban/scarf, musicians were playing and there were dances - and, we planted two Neem trees.

Late in the afternoon we arrived at Rampura village. Here I could see with my own eyes two of the three trees I had helped to plant for Surain doing well - after a little over 5 years! Especially the second one was covered with lots of branches and had grown quite high. When the man who cared for the first tree saw how moved I was, he came up to me and promised to take good care of it in the future. In return, we promised him to come back no later than in 2011.

As promised, we were back one more time. With us we had a very close friend, Leif Maseng. Both of the two first trees, now over 8 years old, were doing very well. I was pleased to see that the farmer had kept up his promise to take good care of the first tree.