Saving water:
Most of us think of saving water in dams behind huge reservoirs or big tanks above ground. In Charco Blanco, the people store rain water in pits lined with cement. These have open tops and thus are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. There are two springs about a mile and a quarter down the mountain road from Charco Blanco. The families travel down the mountain to get "good water" for drinking and use the pit water for washing their all important coffee crop.
School alhibe:
Pictured above is the "alhibe" or water cistern that is located right behind the school. It was built by the local community with the help of Fundeprocunipa or the local church sponsored NGO. Rainwater from the school roof is channeled into the cistern. Unfortunately the hand pump is broken and the people say the cistern leaks. Yesterday it held only about a foot of water.
Drinking unsafe water:
The man pictured above is almost blind and can not afford to travel down the mountain and get clean water at the spring. He is taking water from the cistern for every use in his home. Sandra, the mother whose home is beside the school, says that the water is unsafe to drink because dirt from the school roof accumulates in the cistern.
Need:
This cistern, as well as others in the mountains, needs a filter system, so that the rainwater will be somewhat purified from dirt before it falls into the tank. Also the cistern needs an aluminum ladder so that the farmers association members can climb down into the tank and clean it out or do the maintenance. Furthermore, the cistern requires a reparation project to locate the leak source and then seal it. These needs suggest that many good projects in the mountains end up in disrepair because the maintenance requirements are either beyond the skill level of the local community; are too costly for them to deploy; or are not clearly explained during the construction process, with adequate access to spare parts.
Future plans:
This January we will start an exploratory well in Charco Blanco. The community is organizing a water committee composed of three men and three women. Among them, two will be Haitian immigrants. This committee will be elected from the Coffee Growers Association members. This kind of work is needed to determine the viability of other methods of obtaining water. In order to lower exposure to mosquitoes, the open pit cement catchment systems need to be closed down...but a water replacement system must be up and running. If the well project fails to find sufficient water, the committee will begin drawing up plans for a solar energy system to pump the water up the mountains and then have it fall by gravity to the school. The vertical distance between the springs and the school is close to 600 feet, and the water volume at the best spring is 8 gallons per minute.
Concentrated effort:
In a municipality like Paraiso, with over 20 rural communities, there is a sustained tension between trying to concentrate development efforts and attempting to reach all of the communities at the same time. The story of Charco Blanco is similar to that of El Maniel, La Canoa, La Malanga, Leonardo, Barrio Nuevo, La Vibora and other mountain communities. All produce coffee. All of them use the dangerous system of open cement lined pits to conserve water. All face clean water shortages and none of them has attempted to dig a water well to explore other options for finding good water.
Fundeprocunipa:
Father Antonio started this NGO and it has two agronomist engineers on staff, one accountant, one professional educator and two semi-employed agronomist engineers; a secretary and a driver. This organization, together with the local communities and financial help from outside the Dominican Republic, has built schools, alhibes and other resources for rural development. They do marvelous work, but are short handed: when one compares their human and capital resources to the projects they want to maintain or initiate. But they move ahead with what they have and they give good example to the town of Paraiso.
