Bolivia

Community Description
The larger project focuses on remote and marginalized Tacana, Tsimane and Moseten communities in the Rurrenabaque area of the Bolivian Amazon.

The communities have no access to running water or electricity and are largely subsistence farmers, fishermen and hunters. Last year, a project was done at the community of Tres Hermanas, a village that cannot be accessed by road. It is reached by an hour boat ride and a thirty minute hike through the forest.

This year’s effort will be in a nearby indigenous community that is of the Tacana ethnic group.

Project Description
This project is to build and install 18 biosand filters.

The work will be done as part of a wider project being carried out by the Rio Beni Health Project, in cooperation with Where There Be Dragons, which is based in Sorata, La Paz, Bolivia.

Project funds will be used to pay for cement, sand, gravel, and component parts for the filters. The filters will be built at a central location by volunteers participating in the program working alongside local people. The filters will then be transported to the recipients, and installed in their homes.

These filters will provide clean drinking water to families for about ten years. They require little maintenance, no energy costs, and are built with local materials.

Project Impact
A total of 90 people will be served, comprising 18 households of an average of 5 people each.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
This project will be led by Gina Collignon, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Bolivia and Ecuador. Gina currently works as an instructor with Where There Be Dragons.

Comments
This project follows up on a successful project completed last year, led by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Helen Rortvedt, the Rurrenabaque Filter Project - Bolivia.

It is good policy to replicate projects that have good results and yield a high impact. This project takes advantage of the knowledge and experiences gained in prior work, and builds on the outcome to extend the benefits to an unserved population in a remote community.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$500.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Gina Collignon of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Gina and/or those of her counterparts in Bolivia

This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion of this project, CLICK HERE.

Community Description
Rurrenabaque, or “Rurre”, as it is known locally is a sleepy town situated on the eastern edge of the Andes mountains and serves as a gateway (socially and ecologically) to the vast Amazonian basin.

The town of Rurre has about 15,000 inhabitants, but it feels smaller than that. Surrounding communities are made up of Chimane, Mosetene and Esse Eje Indians. The region has also seen an influx of Quechua and Aymara migrants from the highlands in search of work in the mines and agricultural fields of the lowland La Paz and Beni departments.

Project Description
This project is to build 20+ biosand water filters and transport them to recipient communities.

The project is part of a wider project being carried out by the Rio Beni Health Project, in cooperation with Where Be Dragons, which is based in Sorata, La Paz.

The Rio Beni Health Project serves over 40 communities in the Rurrenabaque area. A major focus of the work is in securing access to safe drinking water for these isolated, largely indigenous communities. The organization also operates a clinic in Rurrenabaque that serves both the population of Rurre itself as well as patients from surrounding communities.

The design for the filters was pioneered in the area just a few years ago, after some volunteers learned of the success of these filters in the Caribbean region. Noting that the climate and natural resources were similar, the biosand filters were introduced in Rurre in 2006 with great success.

The materials, consisting mostly of concrete and sand, are cheap and locally available. The maintenance of the filters is relatively simple.

Monthly visits to recipient communities by the Rio Beni Health Team will help to ensure proper care. Further, most of the forty communities served by the larger program have resident Health Promoters who are trained by the Health Project to maintain the water filters and do educational outreach regarding a variety of health issues.

Project Impact
The project will give clean water to 20+ families for many years.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
This project will be led by Helen Rortvedt, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Helen served as a PCV in Bolivia until all PCVs were evacuated from that country in September, 2008. Helen currently works as an instructor with Where There Be Dragons.

Comments
This project is part of a coordinated and integrated public health effort. It uses a technology suited for, and extensively used in, the region. It includes follow-up and evaluation, ensuring sustainability.

Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Helen Rortvedt is to be commended and thanked for extending the Appropriate Projects concept to include RPCVs, who presently are about 200,000 in number.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$100.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Dollar Amount Needed
$400.00

This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.

We are still accepting donations to replenish our project fund and to enable the further work of RPVC Rortvedt and her counterparts in Bolivia.