Supplying Basic Needs in a Rural Village
A boy pumps water in the rural Santa Teresa community of La Chota, in the buffer zone of Chacocente Wildlife Refuge. These easy-to-use rope pumps are the most appreciated donation of the SCP. Photo by Derrick Gee.
Richland Center, Wisconsin and Santa Teresa, Nicaragua have been sister cities since 1987. WCCN made the connection between the two cities, and the relationships has prospered for everyone involved. In 2008, WCCN contributed $4,000 to improve sanitation and access to clean water in La Solera, Nicaragua through a partnership with the Richland Center-Santa Teresa Sister City Project (SCP). The funds were fully used during 2009 and this first phase of the project is now successfully completed, thanks to the commitment and hard work of people at La Solera and the accompaniment and oversight of the SCP.
La Solera, located 13 miles south of the city of Santa Teresa, is a community of about a hundred families, lying between the Rio Acayo, which forms the western boundary of the Santa Teresa municipality, and the mountainous terrain of much of Santa Teresa’s rural areas. The continental divide bisects the municipality. Most of the villagers are subsistence farmers. Our Nicaraguan facilitator, Alma Susana Chávez, describes the people of La Solera as “having many needs, and in a very precarious economic situation.” Alma supervised the projects, which were originally chosen by a village committee.
Using materials purchased with the funds donated by WCCN, twelve families built latrines, fifteen families made well covers, and villagers dug five wells, one of which - at the Community Health Center - received a rope pump. The SCP policy is to provide materials, while the community members provide the labor. A few entrepreneurs from La Solera manufactured the 5,000 bricks that were required, and sold them to the project for a low price. The Santa Teresa mayor authorized the municipal truck to deliver the other construction materials, only charging us for the cost of the gas and the driver’s lunch. These basic sanitation improvements, such as wells (ideally with covers and pumps), latrines (in ‘lieu’ of the forest floor), and clay water filters, make an immense difference to the health of the people in this remote community. In 2008, for the first time, there were no infant deaths in the Santa Teresa municipality.
We were very proud to have been involved in that achievement by our involvement in similar projects throughout Santa Teresa. Though the economic recession has brought a slowdown in donations to our Sisters City Project, we hope to continue making persistent progress in La Solera. The Project has recently received a $1,000 grant from the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, which will enable the construction of three wells and covers, plus four rope pumps. We are committed to ongoing programs in five other rural communities, and there is a strong need for contributions toward La Solera to fund future projects. If you are able to contribute, please send your donations to WCCN, mentioning La Solera project as the beneficiary.
For more information about the SCP please visit our website: santa-teresa.wccnica.org.
By Jane Furchgott Secretary of the Richland Center-Santa Teresa Sister City Project