Mother Pacha
IF WATER IS LIFE,
DRINKING WATER IS HEALTH
WATER AND SANITATION
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Peru has a population of 32 million of which 3 million people do not have potable water and 8 million do not have sanitation services. In the rural areas of Peru, 1 in 3 families lack access to clean water and adequate sanitation.
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Only 1 in 100 households have access to clean water.
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Only 69 out of 100 households have access to piped water.
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Only 31 out of 100 homes have sanitation.
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The Amazon basin contains 5% of the world's fresh water and 43% of the Peruvian territory is alluvial soil that is flooded in the rainy season. Communities are surrounded by water, however, they do not have clean water for consumption, this is illogical.
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The tropical glaciers in the Peruvian Andes are drying up due to deforestation by burning grasslands, therefore the communities don’t have drinking water and depend entirely on the rains or the scarce watersheds that run through their homelands.
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Along the Peruvian Coast is where 60% of the country's population lives and the availability of water resources is severely limited. The inhabitants of these communities pay between 3 to 4 dollars per cubic meter of water while in urban areas the cost is only 30 cents.
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These numbers show a stark reality and it is a powerful reason to make the dream of clean water in impoverished communities a reality.
On the coast, in human settlements buy water from water trucks and pay per cubic meter up to twelve times the price is pay in the city, this is one of the cruelest insults of inequality along the coast of Perú.
In the mountains, the water resource is scarce, which is why they wait for the rainy season to irrigate their crops, on occasions the closest to a water source is a couple of kilometers, and in some cases, they have to walk down the steep mountain, exposing their physical integrity at risk.
In the Peruvian jungle these children live surrounded by water, but it is not drinking water, the waste produced by the same community contaminates the rivers where they live, diarrhea is frequent and other stomach and skin problems.
Solution
In our "SANITARY EDUCATION" program we work to achieve a better quality of life in our adoptive communities with drinking water with a system of elevated tanks, a system of sanitation services for the sanitary disposal of excreta and treatment of wastewater in this way. To avoid the proliferation of diarrheal diseases caused by parasitic infections, with the proper treatment of water it is possible to reduce these diseases by up to 80%.
We understand that men have greater participation in basic sanitation activities, however, women are the main users of water, they are the person who traditionally is in charge of collecting it and transporting it, which is why the participation of women as agents of Changes in behaviors in each home will be very important in our training and health education process.
HEALTH
We will focus our attention on safeguarding the well-being of children because they are the most vulnerable population. According to UNICEF, poor hygiene, open defecation, lack of access to drinking water and sanitation systems are not only the major factors in childhood mortality and morbidity but they also can contribute to a child’s malnutrition and growth retardation.
Solution
We will implement workshops for the correct use of food, water treatment and the construction of ecological toilets
The community of Huarmi Isla, they live surrounded by water for half a year, however, it is not clean water and they lack a sanitation system.
TORRE DE AGUA
In Peru, between 7 and 8 million Peruvians do not have access to drinking water.
In cities, part of the population does not have this resource and in rural communities, 100% of its inhabitants lack drinking water.
The Amazon
In Our Amazon we have to consider that they are alluvial soils and that in the rainy season 70% of our Amazon is flooded, increasing the contamination of rivers due to the lack of a sanitation system.
Solución
Knowing these characteristics, we will develop a system of elevated water tanks to take advantage of the abundant water and turn it into drinking water.
The Andes
In our Peruvian Andes, the characteristics are different, especially in rural areas far from our cities, the contamination is due to the raising of livestock close to the sources of water or minerals present in the Andes, which is why the water is not suitable for human consumption.
Solución
We will develop an efficient system for the treatment of water, the elevated water tanks will have as a source the thaws, springs, or underground water, thus providing drinking water for the schools in our communities.
The Peruvian Desert
In our Coast, the water scarcity is typical of the territory because it is a desert, it is unfair that the inhabitants of poor communities pay between 6 to 7 times more for water that does not guarantee to be drinkable, which makes them prone to contracting diseases due to bad conditions of the water stored in drums and buckets.
Solución
It consists of the construction of an elevated water tank to pump water from the subsoil and give it the necessary treatment to convert it into drinking water, at the same time that it will serve to irrigate the school organic gardens.
TOILETS
Open defecation directly contaminates communities. In the Peruvian Amazon, up to 2 meters of water covers some communities for a period of half a year, residents practically live on water and the ecological toilet system needs a different strategy in these areas.
In the Andes, it is very important to build ecological toilets that do not break the harmony of nature. Many times we find baths with different colored metals or corrugated iron, breaking the ecosystem, and without use, can result in an extra load of waste that does not decompose.
On the Peruvian Coast, the volume of inhabitants in the communities (human settlements) is much higher, for this reason, the ecological toilets system must be efficient according to its environment and population.
Solution
In all our adoptive communities a composter will be built near the ecological toilets, in this way we will guarantee efficiency and a stable cycle of waste. After a meticulous analysis by our collaborators, the natural fertilizer will be used for School Vegetable Bio-gardens and School Rescue Bio-gardens.
We work educating, preparing communities for better management of the environment while taking care of their health, education is the key.
Elevated tank system, the first tank separates the impurities and in the second tank chlorinated products are used and in the third step the chlorinated water passes through a filter system.
Solar panels are an excellent choice for renewable and eco-friendly energy. This system will allow us to pump water from the river, wells, or groundwater for treatment in our elevated tanks and also for the operation of our Internet antenna.
We will build ecological bathrooms that do not break the harmony and balance with the landscape and we will take advantage of the compost after their treatment for our school bio-gardens.
In the shantytown Santa Rosa in Lima, the residents have to walk about 500 meters until they reach the opposite end of the highway in the South Panamericana where they pay 1 sol to use the public toilets due to the lack of basic services throughout the shantytown.
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Living with livestock and poultry makes it difficult to handle the food process in a proper way, which causes stomach and skin problems, mainly in children.
With a correct orientation, we can reduce these cases and help to aspire to better health and hygiene.
HYGIENE
Access to drinking water and bathrooms are indicators of a good quality of life. But unfortunately in Peru, 42% of the rural population does not have basic sanitation, a situation that exposes mainly children and the elderly to infectious diseases. Diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites that are eliminated through feces are the greatest threat. The most common being: typhoid, cholera, hepatitis A, norovirus, ascariasis, and taeniasis. There are also dermatological diseases characteristic of each region and which occur in areas of low socioeconomic level. People who live in these areas have difficult access to health services, which leads to marginalization, stigmatization, and exclusion.
In the Amazon, we will work with families at an integral level, having to consider the characteristic difficulties of the area. For example, in the rainy season, the water level rises up to 4 meters in some areas making communities live flush with the river for a half the year having to share the same space with domestic and farmyard animals. Another problem to consider is the lack of hygiene and food handling which can cause a constantly upset stomach.
In the Peruvian Andes, many communities share spaces with their farm animals causing health problems. It is important to train the inhabitants with alternatives without changing their lifestyle. In many cases, a person's way of life is learned from ancient times so the lack of hygiene and food handling is a problem to be solved. Cold is another important factor to consider when aiding communities. A greenhouse-type, eco-friendly heating system will be implemented to help counteract the intense cold in people’s homes. Mosquitoes are also an issue in the homes, so nets can be a blessing especially if there are children.
On the Peruvian coast, desert shacks are constructed from tarps, cardboard sheets, and floors made of dirt or sand, making them dusty areas. Living in these dusty homes can lead to skin diseases. Another problem is the water they buy and then place in poorly covered containers. If water is not stored properly, it can cause other diseases such as typhoid or dengue and chikungunya, a disease spread by the Aedes aegypi mosquito larvae in the water.
Solution
Once the elevated water tank system, ecological toilets, and compost heaters are installed, we will start with workshops for the correct and healthy handling and storage of water, food handling, workshops focused on improving personal and household hygiene, as well Even being able to improve the hygiene in the pens where the farm animals are and the hygiene of your pets, it is often sad to see cats and dogs with serious skin problems.
DRINKING WATER IS A SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE