Nicaraguan communities building a sustainable future

So a well-run North American non-profit organization can assist Nicaraguans by funding improvements in water access and sanitation in remote communities. But what makes those gains stick? The key to sustainability is community ownership and management of the new resources.

This weekend we, El Porvenir board members, visited a new pumping station we had helped a community build.

The murals the community chose to decorate the facility tell a story of hope in the future:

Trees preserve water and the land.

And you don't cut them down.

Apollinaire Sosa is the operator of the facility; the job of ensuring that water flows is his.

He's the fellow who gets to turn the blue wrench.

Elizabeth Torres acts as the community treasurer: she makes sure that the 145 families (over 500 people) served by the metered system pay their monthly assessments. The community is proud that their water system has established that everybody pays and they have built up a reserve fund of over $1000 for any mechanical emergencies.

This is what the future can look like.