El Porvenir Water Project February Update

Published Thu, Feb 12, 15. Written by Shannon Smith.

El Porvenir Update

We've received an update from our partners at SuNica on our project in El Porvenir, Nicaragua that we all helped fund last year through the Turn On the Water campaign.  We've shared it below.

The Turn On the Water project continues to surge forward. There have been social hurdles at every turn but nothing that we didn't expect and nothing that Mario and company haven’t been able to handle. Morale is strong and growing within the community, and the fine folks of El Porvenir are more excited than ever to see the project move forward. This week, the CAPS (community led water committee) added five new members (for a total of seven) and had an official meeting at which the CAPS was ratified by the local government. They are now a legally recognized entity!  (swearing in ceremony pictured below)

 
 
The past 6 weeks or so have included a lot of administrative work including seeking out a piece of land to serve as the hub for our water project, housing the borehole and electrical building that will operate the system. Our staff has continued to work with a hydro-geologist and an engineer to nail down the finer details of the system. And that process is 90% complete! 
 
 As we've said so many times, it's important that the community itself is is in charge of the process as much as possible. Just as an example of what it looks like to empower a community, we placed the land acquisition task in the hands of the CAPS. Once the hydro-geologist had picked an ideal location for the drilling point and electric building, the CAPS set out to get that piece of land donated to their cause.
 
Initially, the landowner didn’t want to talk to the CAPS about this and demanded to speak with SuNica about it. Of course we stepped in but not to take control. We simply told the landowner that he had to deal with the CAPS as it was their decision to make. Now the CAPS is making progress on acquiring that land for the community.
 
Currently, we’re tentatively shooting to begin drilling in April. Given our recent progress, this seems likely, but taking into account all the moving parts, the stakeholders and Nicaraguan culture, it is subject to change. We invite you to pray with us that the people of El Porvenir don’t have to wait too much longer for clean drinking water.