Our Partnership with El Porvenir

The need to protect and restore watersheds that supply vital water to rural, subsistence farmers is growing in importance as Nicaraguans face both sudden and slow onsets of climate change trends like prolonged drought, which are pushing the agricultural frontier into previously forested or preserved land as well as back to back hurricanes. The village of Posolí is in a region where just 32% of people have access to potable water, and 53% have adequate sanitation facilities. Inadequate access to clean water increases rates of diarrhea and skin infections. In addition, water responsibility falls on women and children who must travel farther to bring water to their homes. Government resources are often not available to rural villages due to economic conditions—Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Families in Posolí earn US$50-75/month, leaving little to construct water systems or new latrines.

One Day’s Wages is partnered with El Porvenir to equip Posoli residents on multiple projects: bringing clean water to 65 homes via a new piped water system, building latrines for families without adequate sanitation, constructing fuel-efficient cookstoves, and working toward behavior change with hygiene and watershed education. The watershed restoration component is crucial to longer-term food and water resiliency and mitigates climate change. El Porvenir partnered with Posoli residents to replant and protect forests so that residents can live, grow food, drink and use water, and raise cattle in such a way that people downstream can do all of those things as well. El Porvenir has over 30 years of experience partnering with rural Nicaraguan communities to build appropriate technology and provide communities with the tools they need to manage their water, sanitation, and forestry resources. Only with clean water, improved sanitation, and healthy habits can individuals become educated and improve their living standards.