El Porvenir, Nicaragua
with Su Nica
We partnered with Su Nica to "Turn on the Water" in El Porvenir, Nicaragua.
Recent Updates
Paying the Bills in El Porvenir
Published Fri, Sep 02, 16. Written by Shannon Smith.
This is a cross post from our Nicaraguan partners, SuNica, containing great news about our project in El Porvenir. The El Porvenir project was fully completed in July. August was the first month where water bills came due. The community responded wonderfully. Read more below...
Paying the bills in El Porvenir
100% PAID
The thing we all care about. Is our work and your dollars doing the thing we wanted it to do? That is the million dollar question. Stories like this give us a great insight to how we're doing and how El Porvenir is doing. August was the first billing day in El Porvenir. Each family had 10 days to pay their modest, but fair bill for their metered water usage of the new system. On August 10th, 96% of the community had paid their bill. The community bill collector/enforcer/maintenance employee gave the "notice-of-water-cut-off" on August 10th and by the 11th, 100% of the community had paid.
Praise God! As a staff, we've been thinking about the first billing cycle for over two years. This was a great start and almost as important as the completion of the project itself.
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)
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.
El Porvenir Water Project March Update
Published Thu, Mar 12, 15. Written by Shannon Smith.
El Porvenir Update
We received an update today from Su Nica, our partners working in Nicaragua, on the El Provenir water project we helped them fund last year. We've shared that with you below.
Remember last month when we told you about that perfect piece of land we found for the water system? Well, we're oh so close to securing it! El Porvenir's Water Committee (CAPS) is working alongside SuNica, their local government, and a neighboring land owner to gain clear title to the land where the borehole and water tower will sit.
So the short history behind this piece of land is that a wealthy farmer who owned much of the property around El Porvenir promised to give a portion (including the land we need) to one of his best workers, Mr. Juan (name changed for privacy). This land was eventually purchased by a larger El Salvadorean company. Mr. Juan's agreement with his former boss was never formalized in the local Register of Deeds or any of that good stuff, so it took us quite a while to find out who it actually belonged to. SuNica's very own Mario Moraga got to the bottom of it, and now all we have to do is get a contract drafted up, get all of the stakeholders in a room (easier said then done) and have a few key people sign this document. Mr. Juan will get clear title to the land he was promised many years ago. El Porvenir's CAPS will pay Mr. Juan for the portion of his land that shall be deeded to El Porvenir, and El Porvenir can move forward with the project. Everyone wins! Check out the SuBlog for the unabridged version of this story.
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