Provide a Sustainable Source of Water for Impoverished Bolivian Communities

Residents of Bolivia’s rural communities struggle to survive in economic and political environments in which they are often isolated and powerless. Construction projects are extremely difficult to fund, since communities and organizations can rarely accumulate sufficient funds at one point in time to cover costs. In partnership with local communities and their municipal government officials, Mano a Mano has implemented a consistently successful, low-cost approach to constructing roads and water reservoirs, as well as to building and operating clinics, sanitation facilities, schools and teacher housing. Community residents participate in all aspects of planning, construction, and operation of these projects. Extensive discussions lay the groundwork for developing formal agreements among the elected community leaders, municipal officials (the municipality is similar in composition to a county in the U.S.), and Mano a Mano and define, prior to construction, the contributions and responsibilities of each participating entity. While Mano a Mano seeks and provides funding for construction, machinery, and skilled labor, community volunteers contribute thousands of hours of unskilled labor and any locally available building materials such as sand or gravel. Community residents have agreed to provide four-ten volunteers for eight hours daily for a projected 350-day period to work on the project until it is completed. Community residents contributed nearly 80,000 hours to construction projects last year. The municipality of Tiraque contracted with an engineer to complete a study of the terrain and water flow in the mountains in the surrounding area and to draw the design for the channels and reservoirs. The local government and community residents will contribute a portion of funding for fuel for the heavy equipment. The agreement among project participants becomes the blueprint for ongoing relationships between Mano a Mano and its partners. By the time the project has been completed, residents will have developed an intense pride in their accomplishments and a view of themselves as competent individuals who can make things happen. Mano a Mano uses every available opportunity to stimulate community involvement, reinforcing this sense of ownership of and responsibility for projects, and focusing on their long-term viability. With Mano a Mano – Nuevo Mundo’s assistance, Sancayani community leaders will create a water cooperative that will schedule water release to their fields, assume responsibility for reservoir maintenance, establish a fee system and manage funds collected by the cooperative. Fees received by the cooperative will sustain the reservoir over the long term. The Punata municipality has an established water regulation syndicate that currently manages release of water from the Quinsa Mayu River and will continue to oversee its distribution through this organization. There are 2 primary goals of this project: • Increase community capacity to raise sufficient quantities and varieties of foods to provide a healthy diet for its population. • Create community capacity to produce crops and livestock that can be sold in larger urban markets. When completed, the project will channel over 15,000,000 cubic meters of water yearly. As a result of this project, families will be able to substantially increase crop yields and livestock and thus double to triple their income while concurrently improving family diet.