Pagosa Springs Rotary Club
Pagosan Ray Finney has devoted himself to the mission in Nicaragua of the non-profit organization El Porvenir for over 25 years, and was glad to contribute a little more of his time to acquaint Pagosa Springs Rotary with its activities.
The organization undertakes very basic infrastructure projects in the impoverished rural areas of our Central American neighbor, to improve the lives of the residents by providing clean drinking water, enhancing sanitation, planting trees and contributing to children’s education.
Wells are essential to provide clean drinking water, because rural streams near remote Nicaraguan villages are polluted by domestic animals. A short film displayed by Ray showed that clean water for villagers demands hand-dug wells (as much as 60’ deep into rock) equipped with manual pumps using a system of ropes. A simple and basic approach, but nonetheless important in the lives of residents: the film showed villagers walking to the well and standing in line to fetch water, often starting as early as 4 am. A brochure distributed by Ray advised that only $2500 is needed for such a well, sufficient to provide clean water to a rural village or a school.
Ray described the method of enhancing sanitation employed by El Porvenir in rural Nicaragua as a “double-pit” outhouse, or latrine. Pits for waste are dug side-by-side, and a privy is installed above one. After a year, the privy is switched to sit above the other pit. The first pit is later cleaned out, yielding fertilizer, and the process is repeated over the ensuing years. The brochure reported that construction of such a community latrine costs only $450.
The film also depicted another aspect of the work by El Porvenir: providing chimneys. Many rural Nicaraguans, Ray reported, cook over open fires, causing repeated inhalation of smoke. But a simple chimney over the fire will usher the smoke away, and dramatically improve air quality for the cook and family.
Ray emphasized the importance of El Porvenir’s two-pronged efforts in rural Nicaraguan schools. The group first undertakes steps to provide schools with clean water and sanitation facilities. Second, it provides education to the school children on the importance of sanitation, for example, clean hands. A little money can go a long way: the organization’s brochure noted that it costs only $100 to provide 100 health education coloring books to school students.
An important part of El Porvenir’s overall effort, Ray noted, is training to ensure that the residents of the rural areas where the group has developed facilities for clean water and sanitation will have the know-how to maintain them. He said the group has 28 employees in Nicaragua for implementation and management of it projects, and of course, volunteer workers come from the U.S. periodically to support its efforts
Ray commented, “We can’t solve every problem right away,” but citing the Starfish invocation from Dick Babillis, “we can solve some problems,” even with only simple steps.