RUS ALIT APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY SITE

This is one dream I have been privileged to be a part of.

I first met Rus in 1988 when he returned to Bali from overseas work with World Vision, his speciality was Appropriate Technology for developing countries. At that time he had a home in the mountains near Ubud, Bali, and he had installed some of his Appropriate Technology. The night before he took me up to that site, I had a dream in which there was a retreat center for tourists and seminars above a river. Rus had not told me any details about his site, only that it was in a village in the mountains. When I saw the site, I told Rus about my dream, similar to this location, above a river, but in a much more lush tropical setting than this particular village. He got excited and said this was his dream, and he hoped this would be the site, but the village wasn’t as receptive as he hoped. As a returning Balinese, he was regarded more as an outsider than Balinese.
Above: Rus and Made

The current site is indeed a lush tropical setting, not high above a river, but on the river bank, at the convergence of a stream and a river. I was amazed at the variety of palm, deciduous, and evergreens growing together! This site is rejected by the Balinese (they are very particular about water). The place was a place where aborted babies (it was their method of birth control in the past) were discarded, and considered full of spirits for that reason. They were all surprised that not only was Rus not afraid, but prospered at the site.

The dams that provide irrigation to 5 downstream villages.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY is a term for simple technological developments which require no outside energy source such as electricity or fuel, and utilize simple materials available locally. The technology makes life easier and more productive, also improves hygiene and thus health conditions. Rus’s developments include the hydraulic ram pump, which uses the power of falling water (needs 3 meters head, see video) to pump water to great heights. This first village I visited was some 30 - 40 meters above the river, and he was using the ram pumps to fill storage tanks (also Appropriate Technology)

At this beautiful retreat site near Tabanan, Bali, Rus has several ram pump examples in operation, as well as water tanks, water collection and purification, irrigation system that includes two low dams and irrigation ditch system that feeds five villages downstream, a water wheel which operates a rice mill (not used any longer), and several other samples of the Technology. He holds international Appropriate Technology seminars to train others, and now his pupils are carrying the simple methods of bettering village life to the world.