Broken (Human) Infrastructure

Why doesn't the aqueduct in Alto Playón work?

About 3 years ago Alto Playón was donated an aqueduct which pumps river water to two 650 gallon tanks, which is pumped to the houses.  In order for the aqueduct to work, families need to pay $2 a month for gasoline and to pay a plumber to run the pump.  The system functioned for only 1 month, and the women and children continue to carry water to their houses.

A Daily Usage analysis revealed that the current system has enough capacity to meet their needs.  Everyone agrees that it would be easier to have water pumped to their house than carry it.  And all of the infrastructure is in place - a pump (although broken, can be fixed), tanks, pipes, and taps.  Ostensibly, things should be fine.

So why does the aqueduct not work?  Tough question with multiple possibilities:

• No community investment.  The community put no investment into their down development:  no time, planning, or money was put down on their part.  They were handed all of the infrastructure and worked for 1-2 days to bury pipe. 
• Mis-management.  There are households who want the aqueduct to work, I've talked to them many times.  They are hesitant to pay because other families don't pay and still take from the system.  It is the responsibility of the Water Committee to cut these families from the system, but they don't.
• Poor infrastructure.  No training was given to the community members on how to fix the pump or fix broken PVC.
• Customs.  Emberá-Wounaan women are so accustomed to carrying water from the river that they aren't bothered by not having an aqueduct.  The men are used to having water in the house, so they don't notice the difference.

When organizations want to help, infrastructure is easy to pick because you can quantify it and see it done quickly.  Also, our way of thinking doesn't register that someone wouldn't use a technological improvement.  More often than not however, donated infrastructure is seen broken and unused.

I am learning that there are multiple ways in which development has to take place.  I gave the Water Committee a lesson on thermoforming - forming PVC pipe connections with hot oil.  I'm working with the Water Committee to get more organized, be transparent, and enforce their rules.  I implore the women to think about how much easier it would be to have water pumped to their house.  In a community meeting I broke it down to them like this:  your water bill is $2.00 a month, 7 cents per day.  Is carrying five, 40 pound buckets of water everyday worth less than 7 cents?

40 Pounds of Water

What does it feel like to carry 40 pounds of water on your head for 20 minutes, 3-5 times a day, everyday? Just ask the women in Alto Playón and throughout much of the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan.  Everyone in the world has a system for water in their house.  Whether you carry it, use rainwater, have a gravity driven system, or pumps and pipes send it to your faucet.

I took a survey as qualitative and quantitative study of the water situation in the community.  I spoke with the women about how much water they use on a daily basis, and whether or not they treat their water.  Here are the results:

The Daily Water Usage results told me that the current system has enough capacity to deliver their water needs.  I also learned that most families don't like to chlorinate their water and that I could make an impact educating households on treating their water.  

Although this was an information gathering exercise, it was also to raise consciousness around water.  I presented this information to the Water Committee to motivate them to start running the aqueduct again.  We re-tooled the monthly payments, laid down new rules - such as being cut off from the system for those who don't pay.  In a town meeting the President presented this to the community and only 16 families chose to participate.