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Current News -
Branch ASCE News
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Wednesday, 14 April 2010 08:49 |
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The village of Amayo has no running water; most of the people use the river as their water source. This river is located at the bottom of a long, hill that women and children must travel carrying open buckets of water to bring to their homes. The river is also used for bathing and washing. Livestock use the river for drinking water and deposit their waste in or adjacent to it. Only 3% of the vil-lage citizens have latrines. Most peo-ple use grassy areas adjacent to their homes as bathroom facilities. Improved access to potable water and latrine structures will greatly improve the public health of the community.
| | | ACCESSIBLE WATER AND HUMAN WASTE REDUCTION
Amayo, Nicaragua | Project Cost | | | $10,000 | | The Need | | | | The goal of the project is to improve the public health of the community through education and basic water and waste facilities. The objectives of the project are to improve access to potable water, provide latrines for each home, and develop a community public health educa-tion program. | Funds Needed | | $8700 | | | | | | The EWB-USA Response | Chapter | | Assessment | New Orleans Professionals | | The village was only interested in digging a well to address their water problems. We proposed the filters as an interim solution, and that was enthusiastically received. Rainwater catchment systems are favored, but there are currently only two public buildings on which they could be built. We will investigate with the community the possibility of adding these systems to individual homes. | | | | | | | | What was done | | | | We purchased and distributed 30 Potters for Peace ceramic water filters for indi-vidual residences. We instructed the residents on proper hygiene and the importance of clean water. We also tested river and well water for nutrients and biological contamination. As part of our assessment trip, we made contact with lo-cal and regional governmental officials to engage them in our efforts in their community. | | | | | | | | Following up | | | | In February 2009 we returned to Amayo for our first construction implementation trip. We purchased materials for 10 la-trines and assisted the community in constructing 6 latrines during our one week visit. The community committed to completing the remaining 4 latrines. We have been in contact with the community through our local contact, and he re-ported that 3 of the 4 latrines have been constructed. | | | | | | | | Moving Forward | | | | We will continue to assess and explore sustainable solutions to Amayo’s potable drinking water problems. As a second phase of this project, we would like to install a deep water well that will be available to all community members. We will also continue to construct latrines until each community household has its own latrine. |
Engineers Without BordersTM-USA (EWB-USA) is a non-profit organiza-tion established in 2000 to partner with developing communities world-wide in order to improve their quality of life. ASCE and EWB have partnered together to further the EWB mission.
Website: www.ewb-usa.org
Phone: 303-772-2723
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 09:15 |
