The deep well of compassion

When the United Nations issued a report on May 22 warning that 'a growing shortage of water across the globe may lead to conflict and war, and endanger economic development', it came as no surprise to Michael Viser.

Viser founded and runs 'Wells for Change' -- an organisation that raises money to build bore wells in rural India, working largely with communities that haven't seen rain in adequate quantities in years.

His story is a classic illustration of the Gandhian axiom that you need to be the change you want to see. Ten years ago, worked at an insurance company in Southern California, drove a convertible, lived within a stone's throw of the beach, and "thought nothing of taking a 45-minute shower."

In the midst of his success, Viser, however, found reason to pause: his life, he kept thinking, lacked purpose. Around that time, Viser's father, a pastor, was planning a trip to India with his wife, who had to cancel due to back problems. Viser Sr asked his son if he would like to come along -- and Michael, for all his initial reservations about India, tagged along.

Over a three-week period, Michael Viser saw parts of rural Andhra Pradesh that many Indians living abroad -- or even in India, for that matter -- never get to see. Staying with an acquaintance of his father, a man who worked with orphans and the elderly, Viser experienced the hospitality characteristic of rural India.

"It was humbling. I went to the man's father-in-law's house in a forest. It was just a simple house -- no running water and an outhouse for a toilet. And he cooked for us outside, we ate outside, it was just a very real experience." 

Michael returned to the United States, and India became for him another 'experience', another 'story' to share with friends over a drink. A little over a year later, the acquaintance with whom he had stayed invited him to return with a church group from California, that had donated a bore well and was flying down to attend the dedication.

Michael agreed -- and saw, first hand, how the village reacted to the well. "For the first time, I realised that water was a valuable commodity," Viser recalls.

He got talking with a local leader, and learned that his village was in dire need of water and that his community's Dalit status meant they would not have access to the newly-dedicated well. Viser saw this as a sign, the purpose he had been waiting for. But even so, he was aware of what he thought were his own limitations.

"I wasn't an engineer or a hydro-geologist. I didn't know anything about water, except how to use it." Even so, he heard himself promise the leader that he would come back, and that the Dalits of the village would get water within the year. "I just had to trust God," Viser says of that moment.

The incident dates back to 2001 -- and Viser has not rested since. Giving up his job, he became a stay-at-home dad for his two children, dedicating all his time to 'Wells for Life'. Since its launch, the group has raised over $1,000,000 and built more than 275 wells, each costing approximately $1,500 in India, and most situated in Andhra Pradesh. 

For all the good work he has done, Viser gets his fair share of criticism, mostly about the 'charity model' that 'Wells for Life' has adopted. "The only criticisms I get are from the people in the United States. I say, why are you criticising me? What are you doing? They don't have anything to say in return.

"I tell them well, you go do it, and come back and tell me if you were successful. But the fact is nobody takes me up. If they are doing something and they are doing it better, then I am all ears. If it does not discriminate, if it does not show preferential treatment for the upper caste, then I am all for change."

'Wells for Life' is clearly a Christian organisation -- after all, Viser points out, it was his faith that took him to India in the first place. However, he says, he hasn't seen any signs in India that people are questioning his faith -- water is a scarce resource, and no one is too concerned about the religious beliefs of the person providing it.

"I haven't really had an opportunity to on a large scale interact with the Indian community," Viser says.

"When I was in Southern California, I did a lot of business with State Bank of India, and they would have dinner parties that they would invite me to. I would be the only White guy there. They would ask me, 'Why are you here? What do you do?'

"When they find out I am a Christian, it is like hmm -- they don't talk bad about me. They just say 'you are crazy'. Then they will say, I don't even like to go to India on holiday! I go back because I have to. And you're going back to help! Why would you want to do that? I tell them I'm doing it because Jesus told me I need to do it. They just smile and that's where it ends."

'Wells for Life' is evolving as an example of the difference one man can make. Viser is the sole fund-raiser in the United States, and works through a core group of 150 supporters.

The most effective way, he has found, is by going out and talking to groups of people, and he has had considerable success particularly with young students who, their imaginations fired up by his words and the story of what he has accomplished, encourage their parents to give. He also gets considerable support from the church community, he points out.

A certain humility is the hallmark of the man. Thus, for all that he has accomplished, Viser credits a group of people working on the ground in India. "I just get the money. They do the work."  'They' include Dr Premdas, who runs an orphanage, and Father Dhana, who pulls together the organisational work needed to dig the wells. Both men do have dedicated their lives to social work, and are part of 'Wells for Life's India team; among their responsibilities, they accept proposals and decide, after a study on the ground, which ones deserve funding.

"You know, you may see me as a white guy, but really all I am doing is dedicating the project," Viser says.

"The machinery, the equipment, the labour -- it is their own people. The proposal is given to an Indian, it is not given to me. They make the decisions. So really, in the field, it is an Indian meeting the needs of another Indian. They put sweat into making this happen. Let this water serve as a reminder that there are people who care for you; that you matter; that there is a God who feels the same way about you. And that's it."