SHI: Safe Drinking Water for 20,000 Rural Families

The clean water program, promoted by Self-Help International in Nicaragua, implements many different kinds of trainings for people regardless of age and gender.  Those who attend the trainings become managers and leaders of Water and Sanitation Committees (CAPS) in rural communities. The program has had a positive impact on those communities, and the citizens are very grateful for the knowledge and skills they are receiving.  A few of the attendees have taken the time to tell their stories! Take a few minutes to read some of them:

77-year-old José has been living in Santa Isabel in the municipality of San Carlos for over 24 years. He began by saying “I’ve been working for nine years as the president of the CAPS in my community and for the community of Quinta Lidia. Our two towns share a water source, water system, and committee members.”

José continued “It’s been difficult to manage the CAPS members and activities for both communities. It’s sometimes hard to manage just one, but having the two communities work together is even more difficult. However, we have been able to manage it all because of the trainings I, and the rest of members of our committee, received from Self-Help International.

“My coworkers and I attended the trainings to become better educated and more skilled. We are now able to manage the system efficiently and provide quality water to our people. We find that printed materials work especially well because then we can continue studying in our homes even after the training session has ended,” José said.

“We’re very grateful to Self-Help because of the benefits we’ve received, and because the training center is so close to us! Sometimes, we even have our CAPS meetings at the training center when there are a lot of people coming.

“Those participating in the clean water program aren’t the only ones benefiting from the training center - the micro-credit trainings are also held there! From my whole community: thank you very much for all of your support!” José said.

Justina is one of several women who have been trained with the Clean Water Program in order to improve the management of the CAPS in their community.

“The trainings have been good for us, because there were many things we needed to know but didn’t. A good example is the issue we used to have with the rate we charged to our communities for water. We didn’t realize that we were undercharging our community members,” Justina said.

“Orlando Montiel came to train us, and then understood that we weren’t taking into account several expenses that went into cleaning the water. Now, we know exactly how much to charge people in order to cover  all of our monthly expenses plus the maintenance of the water system. We’ve also been learning the importance of purifying the water via chlorine tablets. The tablets prevent waterborne diseases, which are transmitted when the water isn’t treated.

“I’m also a beneficiary of the micro-credit program. Self-Help gives us small loans and training to work from home in different types of small businesses. In my case, I make corn tortillas and also keep chickens for eggs,” Justina said

“I’m very grateful for the training you give us! I’ve been a CAPS supervisor in the community of Quinta Lidia and Santa Isabel for nine years, and the training sessions have taught us the necessary skills and knowledge to provide for our community long term!” Justina concluded.

The clean water program also provides training outside of Self–Help’s training center in San Carlos.  Adán is the CAPS president of the Buena Vista community of El Castillo.

Adán shared, “For me, the training sessions have been very important. The most beneficial was the one where we learned how much to charge for the drinking water. That training has allowed us to charge a fair amount of money for the water that we provide the community.

“There is a man named Darío who used to claim that we were overcharging him for his water. However, after reading one of the manuals that Orlando gave us in training, Darío changed his mind! He became convinced that the work CAPS is doing is serious and is now even a member of the committee,” Adán said.

“The trainings are very beneficial.  They help the CAPS organize themselves and work better. I can now demonstrate to my community that the water is treated by showing them a water tester. I can also explain to them the difference between raw water and purified water!  All of this is thanks to the wonderful training and good advice we received from the clean water program. Thank you very much for all of your support!” Adán concluded.

In the village of Rubén Darío, located in the Nueva Guinea municipality of southern Nicaragua, live 450 people, settled in 80 houses. Most of the citizens are farming families that survive on raising small livestock and planting and harvesting traditional crops such as corn and beans. Rubén Darío is 160 kilometers (99.5 miles) from the Self-Help International main office located in Quinta Lidia. The people of this small farming community have taken the time to sit down with Self-Help International’s Nicaragua staff to talk about how Self-Help's work has helped them create sustainably happier and healthier lives!

Fredy, 48, currently the treasurer and maintenance worker for the Water and Sanitation Committee (CAPS) in Rubén Darío, told Self-Help all about the community’s new chlorinator and how life has changed for the better since he installed it in September of 2017. Fredy and his wife, Elmira, have been living in the Rubén Darío community for more than 22 years. According to Fredy, the installation of the chlorinator has been a great advance for his community.

“I came to this community when I was around 25 years old. Back when I moved here we did not have running water in our homes. Then, in 1999, a non-governmental organization (NGO) called the Water, Sanitation, and Community Organization Programme (PASOC) came to the community and built a water system that uses gravity,” Fredy said.

“PASOC put a chlorinator on the concrete tank which worked via a dropping system to purify the water.  This system did not last longer than three years because it got stuck and required chlorine every single day. We had to buy the chlorine liquid in Nueva Guinea’s main town. Overall, it was very expensive and difficult to use that old chlorinator,” Fredy explained.

“After that, we spent many years without treating the water. We used to recommend that people in town purify their own water by adding some bleach or by boiling it. In my own house, my wife added 20 drops of chlorine per bucket of water, but many families didn't do it at all and they used to get sick often.

“Then, at the start of 2017, Walberto from the Nueva Guinea City Hall, told my community about a new CTI-8 chlorinator system that uses just a single chlorine tablet. We were all very interested in learning about the new system. So, we attended a training session for a chance to learn more about this CTI-8 chlorinator. We immediately liked the system because it seemed like it would be easy to use and manage. It just needed one chlorine tablet added and needed less maintenance. We liked the idea of not having to come back and forth to check on the chlorinator or to add more chlorine everyday like we had to do with the old system,” Fredy continued.

“This new chlorinator is better, easier to manage, and it has produced better results. Each tablet lasts 12 days, then we drop in another chlorine tablet to continue the treatment process without any breaks between access to clean water.”

Feliciano, 52, CAPS president and lifelong community member in Rubén Darío, also shared his feelings about the CTI-8 chlorinator.

“The people in our community are happy to have their water treated!  Now, most people ask for the water to be chlorinated, because they feel safe drinking the treated water as opposed to the raw water.  They really love being healthy!” Feliciano said. “This new attitude toward clean water is a lot different from the way we all used to feel about water.  The chlorine flavor is not very strong using the new chlorinator tablets and it is very easy to regulate and maintain.

“When we run out of chlorine tablets and the people do not smell chlorine in their water, they ask us, ‘What happened?’ We explain to them that we already sent somebody to get some more chlorine from Nueva Guinea. The whole town, my own family included, have already gotten used to drinking treated water.

“We have even added another new water source to the community! The mayor gave us a plastic tank to store and provide more water,” Feliciano added.  “We are now looking to acquire another CTI-8 chlorinator for this new tank to ensure all the drinking water in our town is chlorinated.”

Janet, CAPS secretary, told Self-Help that she always insists on the chlorinating the water to prevent people from getting sick. Janet explained that the second water storage tank will be used by the houses that are farthest away from the first tank because they receive the smallest quantity of water and the least amount of chlorine due to their distance from the first tank. A chlorinator for the second water tank would ensure that even those living in the more remote parts of Rubén Darío receive quality water! 

These first-hand accounts demonstrate the positive impact Self-Help’s water program have on the lives of people in Nicaraguan communities. Without the generous supporters of clean water, the citizens of Rubén Darío would still be sick from lack of proper water treatment!