BEMS Water Project Status
I spent 27 days there. Anurag spent more than two months. We met the children, ate what they ate, drank what they drank. We talked to drillers, negotiators, contractors. I tried to film everything I could, out of a some passion for filmmaking.
Watch the Documentary
Coming on 12th April
Update, April 2026
The negotiations happened in December before I left Tanzania, but the rest of the important matters and final decisions were Anurag’s. The drilling contracts, the delays, the heat, and the paperwork that nobody talks about when they talk about doing good in the world. On January 14, 2026, Phase 1 was complete.
The borehole, 150 metres deep, was drilled, tested, flushed, and sealed. Clean water had reached the surface at Bright English Medium School.
I was not there when it happened.
That is the honest truth, and I say it without embarrassment. This is what this documentary film is named after, How the Squirrel Got Lines on His Back. In the Ramayana, when Rama was building the bridge to Lanka, a small squirrel carried pebbles. Not boulders. Pebbles. Rama saw it, picked it up, stroked its back, and left three lines, marks that every squirrel carries to this day. The story says no effort is too small if it comes from a full heart.
I was the squirrel.
Anurag is the reason Phase 1 exists. The BEMS water project laid the first foundation for Project Breathe Foundation. What he built, the commitment, the follow-through, the refusal to leave until the job was done, is genuinely extraordinary. Not extraordinary in the way people use that word carelessly. Extraordinary in the way that matters: he showed up, stayed, and delivered.
My support for Project Breathe Foundation is unconditional and without end. If you believe in what happened at BEMS, go support what Anurag is building.
The electric submersible pump is now installed and water is being pulled to the surface. What remains is the water tank and the solar panel installation. Once that is done, the system runs independently, no electricity bills, no dependency, no interruptions. Sustainable clean water for 500 children. We are hoping to make that happen by December this year. Fingers crossed.
The GoFundMe is still open. Every contribution goes directly to completing this.
About Project Breathe Foundation
Project Breathe Foundation is Anurag’s organisation. Its philosophy is simple: real change does not need grand structures. It needs grounded intention. Just the work, on the ground, where it matters. The BEMS water project is its inception project, the first thing it did, the first promise it kept.
Read the Original Story
This documentary grew out of an article published in December 2025, when Anurag and I first arrived at BEMS and decided we would do something about the water crisis. That article tells the full story of the school, the children, and why we went.
