El Tigre & La Cañada Water Project
The following project description was written for a project proposal that I have sent to the United States in the hope of finding monetary help from various organizations in the US. Unfortunately, I do not have many connections in the USA related to engineering and water so I have taken advantage of those that I have including Water for People (via my one civil engineer friend), Rotary Club in California, and Grandma (you may laugh but the woman works miracles).
This community was the first community I met in Honduras who asked for my help and since then they have been astounding in their level of commitment to bettering their community. Lord help me if I don’t call them for a couple of weeks. Next thing I know there is a knock on my door with someone from the community looking for me. It is my biggest hope to build this community a water system. I am incredibly fond of them and if I can manage it I think I may break down in tears at the ribbon cutting ceremony when they opened the valve and water came out.
If you are interested in seeing the entire project proposal it is linked here: “Project Proposal: El Tigre and La Cañada Community Water Project”
If you are interested in seeing pictures of the community and a bit more about their situation with water I created a PowerPoint with music that is linked here: “The Struggle for Water in El Tigre and La Cañada.” Although it is being stubborn so you may have to download the music separately. They will play together if you download them together and put them in the same folder. Stupid Microsoft. (Okay, it won´t let me upload this so I will try again later)
Excerpt from the Project Proposal
As a Peace Corps volunteer we are taught that sustainable development depends on the commitment and dedication to the project by the community itself. Historically, development projects that are entirely funded and built by outside organizations fail due to lack of buy-in by the community. Therefore, as a volunteer in Sabanagrande my goal was to find at least two communities that needed a water system but better yet, wanted a water system and were willing to work for it. The first community I met fit this description exactly.
The residents of El Tigre and La Cañada predominately live in poverty but are incredibly dedicated and hard workers. They are committed to improving their quality of life and even labored for 8 ½ years to bring their community electricity. After they successfully built an electrical system the community immediately started on a water project (In this area of Honduras water is all subterranean thus the communities must have electricity to operate a pump before they can start a water project.).
This community is currently suffering from a lack of water. Their current water sources are either drying up or are contaminated with agricultural runoff. The lack of sufficient and potable water in this community leads to waterborne illnesses as well as to lower standards of hygiene.
We have been working together for several months including performing the topographical survey, creating the design, getting the design approved by two engineers, and searching for funds within Honduras. As a volunteer with connections to the United States, I have decided to help the community find funding from other sources, with the agreement that the community members will build the entire system themselves with their own donated labor and will decide on a household tariff sufficient to maintain the system for the 20 year design period.
The community has very willingly accepted the responsibility to build and maintain their own water system and have constantly been in contact with me asking what our next steps are. They have shown incredibly dedication to the project and have been so proactive on improving their community quality of life that I am now working with them on a school improvement project as well.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to look at the design for the water system for El Tigre and La Cañada. They are a fantastic group of people who I very much care about. My goal before leaving Peace Corps is to build this community a water system. Any assistance that you are willing to give whether in resources, money, or connections to other organizations would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rebecca J Williams
Peace Corps Volunteer
H14 Water and Sanitation Project
Sabanagrande, Francisco Morazán, Honduras
Phone: 011-504-9576-2436
Email: rebecca.williams.pchn@gmail.com
Water System Design Images (Excerpts)
Images of the Community
Nerdalicious in Honduralicious... 