The people in Poblado Ocho de Julio have a last realized their long-awaited desire to secure enough water for all 63 families living there. With the completion of their water project, they now can rest assured that going forward, each family will be able to better prepare their coffee for the market. This opens the possibility for them to organize into a grower cooperative so that they can negotiate a better price from local buyers. Daily life has become significantly easier now that they no longer need to haul water for household use.
The effort to bring water into the community began two years ago when they purchased the rights to a spring in the mountains above their community. They knew that pooling their monies to buy their water source would be a risk since the price they paid tapped out their limited resources, leaving nothing for buying the materials needed to build the system to carry to water to the community. It was understandably a tremendous relief for them when we delivered the 40 huge rolls of heavy-duty hose to their community. It meant that they would finally be able to build the system needed to bring the water into every home.
The communal water line is 4 kilometers long so getting the rolls of polyduct hose into place was a major task. The men shared the challenging work of hauling the heavy material through the steep tropical landscape of volcanic rock and rainforest. It took months to complete the job with a representative from each family providing their labor along with the others on the days they did not have to tend their coffee plots. Where the topography allowed, they buried the hose to protect it. Each end of the hose was fastened to the next with hardware designed to prevent separation. It is expected that the system will last for decades.
In March of 2022, the major rivers in the area are nearly dry even though the “worst” of the dry season is yet to come. Nevertheless, the families are enjoying the security of having a reliable source of clean water.
They send their most sincere thanks to all who made this significant improvement possible. To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
