INNO IDEAS

Mohammed RafiqThe Coolest Veggie
Grower you ever met!

Here’s an awe-inspiring Inno Idea! Come meet the Innovator!

For Mohammed Rafiq, cultivating Lau or Bottle Gourd was something he always did in
his village. The creeper climbed and spread over the thatched roof of his village home
and provided protection and food.

In Korail, the roofs are of searing hot tin sheets and he did not know how to cultivate
Lau in these conditions. There was hardly enough space to plant his feet, forget
planting anything else. In congested, space-hungry Korail, cultivating Lau
seemed a distant dream.

Mohammed Rafiq also kept pigeons in coops on the roof. Their droppings offered a great opportunity as manure. He planted the Lau creepers in a row on the ground beside the
house and spread the creepers up on to the roof on a trellis he created out of string and
wire. Happy in the sun, they flowered and soon there were little gourds all over.
Mohammed Rafiq squirreled up to his gourds many times a day and watered them and
looked after them. Soon it was time to harvest.
Even before the gourds arrived, the Lau plants were delivering the best fruit of his
labor. Every day they cast shade on the tin roofs and kept the home below delightfully
cool and comfortable.

The idea took seed. Many people came to see. Some copied Mohammed Rafiq’s methods.
Some were successful. Some not. But they all agree that it really is cool in
Mohammed Rafiq’s house. A hot tea does indeed taste even better here!

Lau is part of the staple diet of Bangladesh. A regular curry is made with it and eaten with rice. So is a simple tossed vegetable. All very easy to make! Lau also gets added to lentils and Dals and meat curries to give them extra body.

Lau or Bottle Gourd Recipes and Trivia

HOSHNIARA BEGUMHoshniara’s rental business stays afloat with a water storage innovation!

Here’s another Inno Idea! Come meet the Innovators!

Growing up in Mymensingh— an area criss-crossed by various rivers and lush, green countryside— Hoshniara was not prepared to deal with extreme water scarcity when she and her husband moved to Korail. The sweltering, tiny tin shelters, made even more cramped with drums and buckets used to store water, did not make for good living. Cooking, eating, washing, cleaning — living would come to a standstill each time the drums ran empty.

Hoshniara and Alamgir wracked their brains together— how to make living easier, for themselves and for their many tenants? There was no way to put a water tank on the flimsy tin roof, but maybe they could consult a mason to make a tank under the room?!

Enter Mohammad Dulal Khan, who figured that with a well constructed lining of plastic, lime, sand and brick, a clean and convenient way to store water could be built under the room for Hoshniara and many like her!

Now that Hoshniara has in-built water storage, she’s able to demand more rent, save and send some money to her parents each month! Moreover, she no longer runs out of water in the middle of the day, she can cook and feed her kids right after they get back from school every day!

Meanwhile, Mohammad Dulal Khan has become a very busy mason indeed—almost every home in Korail has a water tank beneath it now!