Meet Cynthia Fowler, a 2024 AIFIS-CAORC Fellow from Wofford College, who recently completed her fieldwork in Kodi, Sumba. Her project “Speaking of Water” explores the deep connections between language, culture, and water in this island community, where karst landscapes, seasonal rains, and underground aquifers shape daily life and collective memory.
During her time in Sumba, Cynthia observed how families capture rainwater using bamboo gutters, alang grass thatch, or corrugated roofs, storing every drop as a lifeline through the rainy season. Even as cisterns, utilities, and tanker services are introduced, many households continue to rely on these long-standing practices, finding them more sustainable and in tune with Kodi’s environment.
Through conversations with elders, leaders, and families, Cynthia also traced how local languages encode water metaphors and cultural wisdom, revealing how stories and speech act as reservoirs of ecological knowledge. Her research highlights that water governance is not only about infrastructure, but also about the words, practices, and shared traditions that shape community resilience.
Congratulations to Cynthia Fowler on the successful completion of her fieldwork. AIFIS is honored to support her scholarship, which shines a light on the dynamic ways Kodi people sustain their lives and knowledge systems through water.
🌿 Learn More About Cynthia Fowler
Explore Cynthia’s profile, research interests, and recent publications.
🔗 Visit Cynthia’s Profile
