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Bolivia
EWB - Purdue recently returned from an assessment trip to Papachacra, Bolivia. We found that there is a significant shortage of water in the community during the dry season. We are currently trying to develop an efficient and sustainable solution to this problem.
Program Description
The community we would like to help consists of 120 families located in the Department of Tarija. These families make their living from agriculture consisting mainly of potatoes. The community speaks Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara. The community’s school teaches only until 6th grade.
The community needs are many, however they center around a lack of potable water and a proper irrigation system. The community doesn’t have the resources or goverment aid to help their needs. An improved irrigation water supply is essential because it means the community would no longer need to depend on the rainy season to produce healthy crops. This would greatly increase the community's income.
Providing sufficient water to the comunity would improve the quality of life of each family. If potable water was available in all the community homes, the health of all members of the community, especially children, would greatly increase. Currently, domestic animals and the community share the water source which can greatly contribute to many diseases. Separating potable water and irrigation water would avoid the spread of animal diseases to humans. A healthy water source would also decrease intestinal diseases in the community. This would especially effect the health of children.
How We Can Help
Our goal is to provide enough healthier water for drinking, cooking, and irrigation within the community. The current water distribution system is inadequate and lacks a proper filtration system. The role for EWB chapter would be designing the project and assessing the water quality. This includes providing a system for collecting and filtering enough water to supply each of the homes in the community as well as supplying sufficient water for irrigation. We would then assisst in initiating and educating the community in the construction process.
The proposed project would be accessible to the 120 families in the community with no restrictions. The community would establish a water committee that would decide the amount of the fees that can be charged and would be collected for providing water. These fees could be used for future maintenance of the system. In this way, the community may become self-sufficient in funding and supplying their own water.