nicaragua

NAME: The Jonathan Gonzales School Project

WHERE: El Sauce Municipality, Leon District, Nicaragua

WHAT: Covered, sanitary well circled with a concrete or brick ring, and lined with rocks, bricks and/or cement. The well will be fitted with a “rope pump”, made in Nicaragua, which local residents can easily and cheaply repair, and enclosed with a fence to keep out the animals. Clean water will be supplied to meet the needs of the 400 children and 11 teachers at the school

HOW MUCH: $1,300 in total ($650 by Hampshire College and $650 by the on-the-ground partner organization)

PARTNER: H20 for LIFE

Nicaragua has been named the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. According to United Nations figures, the indigenous people live on less than $1.00 a day. A large segment of the economically poor people are women. In addition, a relatively high proportion of Nicaragua’s homes have a woman as head of household. Within its rural communities, women and children, in particular, carry the burden of searching out open springs for water, spending, on average, 6 hours per day in travel to and from their villages with their heavy loads.

El Sauce Municipality (population 30,500), Leon District, is one of the poorest regions within Nicaragua, with a current unemployment rate of 60-70%. Located at the foothills of the Segovia Mountains, El Sauce is a rural community that obtains its drinking water, when available, from shallow, unlined and uncovered hand –dug wells or open springs. Lack of access and contamination of the existing water supply are key contributing factors to the poor health and infant mortality rates of El Sauce. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, the leading causes of death among children under one year include diarrhea, gastroenteritis and bacterial sepsis of the newborn.