Don Álvaro's story - watershed recovery

Hurricane Mitch, back in 1998, caused a landslide and destroyed many of the trees in the area of Palo de Agua, where Don Álvaro lives. There was a small spring that provided water to the community; unfortunately, after Mitch, the spring dried up. By 2002, when reforestation was first contemplated, Don Álvaro's lands and the surrounding area were still treeless and without much vegetation. From the first trees planted back in 2002 from a small El Porvenir-led nursery, Don Álvaro started working on his dream of the reforesting the area. Those first trees were planted in the area surrounding where the spring had been. 

Don Álvaro is now 63 years old and has 6 children. He received literacy training back in the campaigns in the 1980s, but can only write his name. He is proud that all his 6 children finished primary school.

Don Álvaro showing off one of his many trees.

Don Álvaro is dedicated to his trees and farm. Over the years he has planted more than 2,500 trees. He also has planted pineapple, grafted fruit trees, banana trees and built living fences and barriers to protect the area. He makes a living selling corn and beans—and extra income from selling fruit in town. His land has regained fertility, and most importantly, the spring that dried up has begun to flow again! The spring even has more water than they remember.

Don Álvaro, proudly showing the preliminary structure he has built around the recovered water source.

Thanks to your support, we will continue to help more people like Don Álvaro return a vegetation-less field to productive land with a gushing spring.

Happy New Year - new educational materials

It's a new year, and a good time to look at renewals... So late last year, we at El Porvenir looked over some of our educational materials and especially at our "10 commandments" of latrine use. We have renamed it in recent years to the 10 norms of latrine use, but it still has the same basic concepts. The main focus this year was to add an equivalent set of norms for well use, double pit latrines, pour flush latrines, washing and bathing stations and improved stoves. Here are a couple of them, so you can practice your Spanish...

The suggestions try to go from most important to less important, so the local Water Committee was given importance in this case (#1).

Hand washing is #2, right after, always use the latrine!

We are glad to see stoves included in these now, and keeping it clean and hygienic is important!

We are optimistic that 2011 will be even more successful than 2010, so keep tuned for more news... Thanks for your support!

WFP visit to Wiwilí

Last week, El Porvenir had a visit from Diana Betancourt from Water for People (WFP) Honduras. We drove up to Wiwilí, with its improved roads (over previous year); it probably took just 7 hours this time. We saw several new pilot projects that the staff are working on. The double pit VIP latrine is nothing new perhaps for El Porvenir, but this was the first year we built them in Wiwilí. Here is one in Corrozal.

Although completed just a week before, Doña Dominga had already planted flowers around the latrine.

Then we visited Corriente Lira, on the Coco River (although we drove, then walked 3km to the community - no boat ride this time), to see the pilot of the pour flush latrines. This is a first for El Porvenir and very exciting for us. They were not quite complete, but they are close. Pour flush latrines are a good option for communities with an abundance of water and good soil absorption.

The leader, Don Balvino, explains to Diana the construction process in great detail.

The pour flush is similar to a toilet, but 1 liter of water is poured in to flush it.

These pour flush latrines are double pits.
The small box in the foreground allows for a switch between them.

Staff was particularly proud of this new handwashing station in Las Vueltas.
School is out for the year, so no kids around right now.

Photos from World Toilet Day (or World Latrine Day)

We changed the name to World Latrine Day for our regions

In Nicaragua, as I mentioned in the last blog, our regional El Porvenir offices held events to celebrate World Toilet Day (WTD). We invited local communities to come to our Open Houses, held in our offices, to discuss methods to rehabilitate their old latrines. It was a successful day and we plan to repeat it again next year. Some people did get the impression that we were going to give away new latrines, but most people seemed to understand what we were getting at. Several students from a nearby school also came and a couple of local NGOs. Here are some photos from the event in Darío.

Marlon gives some latrine rehab tips to people that dropped by the Open House

Mayra explains our 10 hygiene "tips" for using the latrine

Staff decorated the office outside with hygiene messages.

Tomorrow is World Toilet Day!

Tomorrow, El Porvenir will celebrate World Toilet Day (WTD). Our regions will hold open houses, inviting local communities to discuss sanitation in general and in particular to discuss the rehabilitation of their old latrines.

Pilot double pit latrine in La Calamidad, Camoapa, Nicaragua

The vast majority of communities in Nicaragua, if they have latrines, have single-pit VIP (Ventilated Improved Pit) latrines. Many built over the years are now full. Here at El Porvenir, we have been piloting double pit latrines (also known as Fossa Alterna) where the superstructure (the slab and enclosure) is moved to the second pit when the first fills. By the time the second pit fills, it is safe to dig out the first pit and start the cycle again. We plan to stop using the single pit VIPs in 2011 as the double pits are working. The photo above is an example.  However, looking back, we plan to work with communities that already have single pit latrines to develop ways to rehabilitate them, converting them into double pit latrines of sorts.

Those are my WTD thoughts... I welcome yours...

"Reforesting Today to Ensure our Environmental Future in our Community"

I have talked a lot on this blog about water and sanitation, even hygiene to some extent. However, I have been remiss in not highlighting our very important reforestation program. We are working with one of our great board members to morph our reforestation program to a watershed protection program. We already have a lot of the components of this in place, but some changes will be coming. For example, the staff (and I) have been learning that all reforestation is helpful, but there are areas where planting a tree can be more impactful - such as higher in the watershed where the streams tend to spring up, along stream or creek banks, etc. We are learning to work smarter.

In English: "Reforesting Today to Ensure our Environmental Future in our Community"

Part of our work in the reforestation program has always been to try to change attitudes and practices amongst the people we work with. Burning the fields to prepare them for planting is a common practice in Nicaragua. Unfortunately, it is not a very environmentally friendly practice. This new sticker that the staff created is being distributed in our communities as part of our recognition that we need to do even more in environmental education - helping people to recognize the connection between those trees and their water in the watershed. We hope to revamp our education program along with the reforestation program to get more people on board with "Reforesting Today to Ensure our Environmental Future in our Community."

Handwash-a-thon on Global Handwashing Day

On October 15th, Global Handwashing Day, El Porvenir held handwash-a-thons in many schools. 22 were planned, although it looks like at least 30 were carried out. Here are a few shots:

Handwashing in a school in Terrabona

Teacher showing the kids how to wash their hands.

Kids gather to wash their hands in the handwash-a-thon

Two girls show off their mural that they helped make for GHW Day

Many schools had cultural events, like this school in Ciudad Darío

The children line up at this school to wash their hands.

Other children watch as a young girl learns to wash her hands.