Peru

The project is being implemented under the direction of Kristen Gunther, graduate student at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health and Suma Marka, a Peruvian NGO operating out of Puno. To read the full details about the project, CLICK HERE.

The community of Parina, located in the rural southeast region of the Andes Mountains, adjacent to Lake Titicaca, currently struggles to access clean water sources. Parina is a small rural community situated approximately 12,500 feet above sea level and located outside the regional capital of Puno. Due to the rural location of Parina, community members lack access to clean water sources and struggle to obtain health-related services.

Parina primarily obtains its drinking water from unprotected springs contaminated by human and animal waste, and unmaintained wells built by the government. The primary spring is a location in which the community obtains drinking and cooking water and takes their animals to drink. While water from this spring is initially pure and potable, environmental contamination and lack of maintenance leads to unclean drinking water in the spring.

The structure of this spring is not ideal for preventing contamination of ground water and perpetuates water-related diseases. Elevated levels of E. coli and fecal coliforms have been consistently found in water from the spring. These indicator microbes show bacterial contamination likely to lead to gastrointestinal problems and diarrhea in Parina, especially among vulnerable children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

The project will start with the purchase of construction materials and equipment in the nearby city of Puno, and their transport by truck to Parina. Community members will provide certain materials that they currently have within the community, such as wood for the spring box frame and construction tools.

A local professional who has experience in constructing improved springs and wells will be hired to oversee the construction process of the catchment box. Community members in Parina will provide the labor.

To initiate construction the current spring will be excavated until an impermeable soil layer is reached. Gravel and stones will be placed above the soil layer to prevent erosion and further ensure a clean water source. A cement wall with an overflow tube at the top will be placed on the open wall of the spring to close the spring off. A second tube will be placed towards the bottom of the wall, approximately 50 centimeters from the ground, providing a connection to the catchment box. The water will flow from the protected spring into the catchment box where it will then be accessible to the community through a tap.

In addition, a cover will be constructed from local materials to ensure no contamination enters the spring from above, and to allow entry into the spring for cleaning and maintenance.

After the initial protection of the spring is completed, the catchment box will be constructed. It will contain an outlet tube approximately 50 centimeters from the ground with a tap to allow for water collection. An overflow tube will be placed 50 centimeters from the top of the catchment box to ensure that the catchment box does not overflow.

All tubes will have a screen on the end to ensure no debris will enter the spring or catchment box and all water leaving the catchment box will be free of particles.

A cover for the catchment box will also be constructed with a top allowing for easy access to clean and maintain it.

Finally, the spring and catchment box will be disinfected with a chlorine solution before use. Community members will be trained on maintenance to ensure a clean water source in the future and sustainability of all structures. Monthly water quality monitoring will continue in order to maintain water quality.

During the wet season, this project will benefit 49 people in 7 households, plus students at a small elementary school with 30 students. In the dry season, other water sources dry up and an additional 35 people in 7 households will use spring.

This project uses simple proven methods that can be replicated using locally available materials. Residents will be trained in construction and maintenance, thus ensuring sustainability.

In summary, this is a necessary project to prevent further contamination of the spring and provide clean drinking water to the Parina community. Its benefits will be seen in the measurable reduction of illness.

This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Kristen of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund other projects in Peru.

Both communities are highly impoverished and lack basic resources, such as electrical connections, a secure source of water, and adequate sanitation facilities. While extremely poor, the families in the community are humble and warm, often inviting the health post staff and Matthew to whatever food is available.

Water Charity is participating in a larger project to construct dry ecological bathrooms at households in the villages. This technology does not contaminate ground water as no pit is dug. Instead, solid waste (feces) falls into one of two sealed chambers, and liquid waste (urine) is separated through the specially- designed toilet and is transferred outside the unit.

The urine can then be stored and diluted for use as fertilizer, or can pass through a basic gravel filter. The feces is stored in a sealed chamber with a cement floor and a sealed brick wall, and is mixed with ash or organic material.

After six months, the chamber is sealed and the user uses the other chamber for the next six months. During this time, the organic matter decomposes, while bad bacteria and virus die. After six month, the material is ready to be safely removed from the chamber to be used as organic fertilizer and the process repeats again.

These bathrooms have an estimated useful life of 20 years, largely depending on the building materials.

The construction follows a program of education and training which commenced in October, 2010. 15 families in each community were invited to participate in a Healthy Homes program, based on family demographics and advice from local health promoters. The program involved a series of health and hygiene related talks, with topics chosen by Matthew and local health promoters.

Twice a month families were required to attend these health talks on themes such as hand washing, water treatment, family violence, and trash management. In addition, families were responsible to install Tippy Taps (simple and economical hand-washing stations), initiate water treatment practices, and dig a mini-landfill. After each session, follow-up visits were paid to families to check for learning and practices in home and to resolve any questions or clarify information from the session.

By the end of the program, 25 families (including 6 volunteer community health promoters) completed the educational session of the program, with the vast majority showing improved hand washing and health practices in the house (according to the baseline analysis at the beginning of the program).

The community will contribute labor and local resources, including adobe blocks.

The local government will provide a large portion of the project cost, with other funding to provide the remainder.

After construction, bi-monthly visits will be paid to families by health promoters to ensure the continuation of healthy practices and habits, as well as use and maintenance of the dry bathrooms.

In total, 134 people in two rural Peruvian farming communities (43 male, 48 female, 17 boys and 26 girls) will benefit from the project.

This type of bathroom is important in these communities for a variety of reasons. First, it provides sorely needed sanitation services in the community. The incidence of diarrheal diseases and typhoid can be expected to be reduced 50%.

Secondly, the construction of the chambers eliminates the need to dig a pit and risk contaminated groundwater. Especially in the community of Huabalito, the ground water is too high in many parts to safely construct pit latrines.

Thirdly, the matter is converted from a contaminant to an asset in the community. Organic material is transformed into fertilizer, which will benefit the agrarian families.

To indicate your desire for your contribution to be allocated toward this project, please click the Donate button below.

Eighty-two percent of the homes have a latrine that was built by an organization called FONCODES thirteen years ago. Many of these latrines are no longer in working order. The other eighteen percent has no form of hygienic services.

Nineteen percent of the population in Huanaco has had a severe case of diarrhea in the past month and had to seek treatment. The three crucial components to reducing preventable cases of diarrhea are first and foremost building proper hygienic services facilities, then washing hands at critical times, and finally, improving the quality of drinking water.

The current situation creates a health, environmental and sanitation risk, which the community members fully recognize. However, the inhabitants are unable to put forth the money to construct new bathrooms for a future sewage system, nor do they have the funds to build new household latrines.

This project is being implemented under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Frieda von Qualen. Frieda worked with the Development Committee to elect the Hygiene Commission for Huanaco, made up of three men and three women. The Hygiene Commission will carry the project forward, with the support of the district municipality.

This project is to build two public bathrooms (each bathroom having a men's and a women's room), for the use of the entire community.

The project will also include educational sessions, to be attended by the entire community, to raise awareness of public health issues. These will include the construction, use, and maintenance of latrines, the importance of proper hygiene, the maintenance of a clean water supply, food preparation, and recycling.

The community has located the appropriate site for the two public bathrooms.

The community will supply the bricks, which have already been acquired. In addition they will also provide a portion of the roofing materials, unskilled manual labor, and the tools for the project.

The community made arrangements for the bricks for the buildings, and they are now available in anticipation of the start of construction.

The municipality will transport the materials to the work site, and the construction of the bathrooms will begin. An engineer from the district municipality will appoint a head worker to lead the construction.

The families have all agreed to pay a nominal monetary amount to help with the costs of the roofing materials.

The community is planning to have a faena (a day where the whole community works together on a project) to build the bathrooms. Each family will lend the tools from the household for the construction.

In total, the community is contributing approximately 34 percent of the project costs. The district municipality is also contributing approximately 17 percent of the costs through transportation of materials and skilled labor.

Maintenance of the facility by a paid person will ensure that standards of cleanliness are maintained and that the use of the bathrooms will be sustained.

This project not only provides the physical structures that will enable a more hygienic and healthier community, but also delivers an educational component that will ensure the necessary behavioral changes.

The participation of Water Charity in this project has now been funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

Any donations using the Donate button below will go toward additional water and sanitation projects in Peru.

The community has a health post, a primary and secondary school, and a recently-renovated gravity-fed water system. However, it lacks basic sanitation infrastructure.

As is the case with most villages in the district, there is a high level of water and soil contamination resulting from human and animal defecation in the open-air, or in poorly-designed pits. Chronic gastro-intestinal illness and childhood malnutrition are a direct result.

This project is to construct 60 “dry bathrooms”, one for each family in the community. It will benefit 300 people.

Dry bathrooms use no water, do not fill up the way that pit latrines do, and produce usable compost and liquid fertilizers for use in agriculture.

The project has been planned and will be coordinated by a project committee, composed of five dedicated community members (three men and two women).

Peace Corps Volunteer Matt Inbusch will direct the project.

Each participating family will provide the sand, gravel, and rock for the concrete mix, as well as wood beams for the roof, 500 adobe bricks for the hut, and manual labor during the construction phase.

Recipient families will prepare home gardens, micro-landfills, and small corrals for their domestic animals before receiving their construction materials.

Also required will be participation in a series of training workshops regarding various aspects of the project. In this way, the project will encompass more than sanitation alone.

In addition to the public health benefits derived from proper sanitation, the project also addresses the issues of nutrition, solid waste management, and environmental protection.

The participation of Water Charity in this project has now been funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

Any donations using the Donate button below will go toward additional water and sanitation projects in Peru.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.