Water for New Delhi

Laurie had chosen the worst time of the year to visit New Delhi. Summer. Mid-August. Sitting in her bedroom armchair the morning after she landed, she checked worldwide temperature listings in the International Herald Tribune. Delhi would reach 117 degrees that day. The temperature in Austin would peak at 99, nearly cool by comparison. But Mike, her boss, had told her she needed to complete her research for her hand-washing and sanitation project quickly if she wanted Percy Foundation funding. He planned to take her to Clinton’s Global Initiative Conference, which was only six weeks away, giving Laurie until September 19 to finalize her plans. And so Delhi, in August, was where she had to be.