In 2022, we partnered with the community of Bilampi to build a fully distributed water system that brought water to every home. Children and their families no longer need to walk for water at home or at a school. This year we plan to finish building a new school for this community. Community members are eager and excited to finish the schoolhouse they have been dreaming of for years. We would like thank The Kathryn B. McQuade Foundation for their support in building this school. We’ve also just learned that, thanks to the new facilities, 3 new grades will be added to the curriculum, so that children in the community can now study through the 3rd year of secondary school. This expanded opportunity is huge, particularly for young girls whose parents thought it unsafe to send them to the neighboring community to continue their studies.
Community Engagement
World Water Day – News From The Field
Today, World Water Day, we shed light on how access to clean water is life-changing. In 2022, we were able to bring clean water to over 750 people in 3 different communities and built our first-ever Rainwater Catchment System. Community members volunteer over 8,000 hours to work on projects that will eliminate water-borne illnesses and the need to walk for water ever again.
We are grateful to our friends, supporters, and funders who allow us to continue this work. Click below for our 2022 Annual Report. Click here for our report in Español.
Project Update – Rosario Las Vegas September 2022
We broke ground on this new water project in April 2022. The community mobilized quickly and has already finished the fresh-water spring capture, the main conduction line to the water tank, building the tank, and most of the trenching to the homes, community church, and school. The team on the ground is currently building metal structures for the water meters and painting the tank the traditional Nicaragua blue. They will then move on to dig the final 3 kilometers of trench for the distribution system, install water meters and build latrines. Weather permitting, they should finish the water and latrine installation by the very beginning of 2023. We are so grateful to The Burdine Johnson Foundation for their sustaining support of clean water for these rural communities.
Next up is a school for this community.
Texas Enactus & Project Schoolhouse Build A New Rainwater System
It was a pleasure to travel to Nicaragua in June 2022 with a multi-disciplinary student group from the UT- Austin Texas Enactus team. In partnership with Localized Water Solutions and Project Schoolhouse, the students worked for months to build a prototype of a remotely-monitored rainwater catch system on the UT-Austin campus. On this June trip, they collaborated with the Project Schoolhouse head builder in Nicaragua to modify the design for locally available materials and installed a similar system at the school in the community of San Isidro, Nicaragua. This rainwater system will give Project Schoolhouse a tool to bring clean water to schools and homes faster and more economically as we raise the funds needed for full topography studies and the fully distributed water systems that are the longer-term solution we have historically installed.
I had the opportunity to chat with two senior Texas Enactus students about the trip that both agreed was the experience of a lifetime.
Matt Zhang, the lead engineer for the UT Texas Enactus team, described his experience as amazing. Though the Texas Enactus students worked for months prior to the trip to build a prototype on the UT-Austin Campus, building it in Nicaragua was much different. For the in-country prototype, the students had to work alongside the Project Schoolhouse head builder, Manuel, to adapt the system to work in Nicaragua. They measured and studied the components that would need to be adapted in an area where there’s very limited electricity and resources.
Matt describes working with Manuel as a great experience, constantly amazed at his ingenuity. He wishes he spoke the language so he could talk to Manuel on a deeper level, but the language barrier prevented it. Matt recalls that if they had a problem Manuel could work it through and adapt it and he was so impressed by Manuel’s ingenuity.
It was nice to have someone with so much knowledge if I had a problem. He could make it happen and make it work.”
I asked Matt about living in a community with no access to clean water even for a short few days. Matt says that it was like nothing that he had ever experienced. “It’s very in your face. There was no access to clean water. It breaks my heart that the world keeps moving on and communities keep trying to catch up. I think that’s why the projects are so important. They go fetch water before the projects come in and don’t get a lot of education. Life is the same from generation to generation.”
When I asked Matt to describe the community, he responded with admiration. The community came together and helped with meals and to take care of the UT students. “There were rotations for some of the women in the community. They would come in early in the morning to start cooking for us; the men hauled clean water from a nearby community so we wouldn’t get sick, and helped with pouring concrete and other parts of the rainwater installation. The amount of work they do, everyone is working all day. They pushed us to keep going.”
Later, I spoke to Abigail Mihalic, Project Manager for the UT Austin Texas Enactus team. She also described the experience as amazing. Abigail noted that while the UT students spent time building a prototype on campus in Austin, nothing could have prepared them for what it would be like to build it on site.
“We didn’t know a ton going in. We built a prototype on campus and thought it would work perfectly and that was not how it went in Nicaragua. It did turn out for the better. We changed the design from 4 small to 2 large barrels. We redesigned on the fly and spent three hours at the hardware store to substitute for locally available parts. We went back to the hardware store to figure out more parts. There were lots of bumps but the building process was great. It was very rewarding. We would wake up with the sunrise and get right to work. Manuel and the community members were amazing. They were welding and gluing PVC. We were in charge of sifting the sand used for filtration – it was hard work but it was so rewarding. We owe a ton to Manuel and Jairo (Project Schoolhouse team). They were really amazing and helpful and it was just great.”
For Abigail, it was really eye-opening to experience living with limited access to water. She described that even though they were only there for ten days and they had help fetching water, the families that live there go every day to drink from the watering hole. It solidified how important Project Schoolhouse’s mission is and how the rainwater system can be a fast solution to implement.
Her favorite moments were: the first day when they had some down time because we got to talk and play every day with the students and the community members, and the food, “The soups were heavenly.”
When I asked if there was something to tell our supporters:
“It was a great, crazy experience – sleeping with the bats that were flying over us at night; meeting everyone in the community, and joking around with everyone. Work over the year in preparation was abstract, but being in the community and seeing what the situation was, the lack of access to water, and how the rainwater system could be a sustainable solution that could be spread to multiple communities quickly, was so rewarding. Hopefully, we can keep working on this project. I am grateful to Selina, Tab, and the Project Schoolhouse team; and the UT Austin Enactus team was there for us and made it happen; So grateful we made it happen and so blessed for the help.”
Both Matt and Abigail have graduated from UT Austin but when I asked what was next, both shared their enthusiasm to keep refining the rainwater system as a priority. Matt mentioned that probably all of his friends and family were sick of him retelling his stories from his time in Nicaragua. They recalled how special the last day in the community was. They were finishing the water system. The children and the teacher of the community of San Isidro made posters showing their gratitude. “The work came to fruition, it started raining.”
Current Water Source in San Isidro
Project Update – December 2021
In 2021, for the first year ever, we worked in three communities, two water projects, in the communities of Mancera Central and Bilampi, and one School project in the community of Malakawas. We also initiated a pilot After-School Club in the community of El Aulo! The projects will bring clean water and education to over 650 people!
Mancera Central Water Project: Benefiting 50 families
Currently completing the final suspension bridge, which will complete the water distribution system. The next item would be to build the latrines in each household!
Malakawas – School: Benefiting 60 families
School is complete except for hanging the classroom divider which is already constructed. We will be handing the keys to this new school in the next few days!
Bilampi – Water Project: Benefiting a community with 43 families, 2 schools, and a church
Spring Capture & Tank 100% are complete! The distribution system is 70% complete. There is 6.5 km more pipe to get into the ground. This will take two months to complete at this pace (100-150 meters per day). We estimate the water portion can be completed by early February and the latrines finished by March 2022.
Kids Turning on Water in Bilampi Community Members in Manceras Central Almost Finished School in Malakawas
Derlin’s Story
Derlin Activates Community Spirit
Derlin Activates Community Spirit
Because of the local geography, the walk to school was often unpredictable and unsafe for half the children of San Antonio. Parents took matters into their own hands and built a permanent pedestrian bridge across a river that was dividing the community in two. The bridge is a great source of pride, providing children a safe, reliable path to school, and the entire community consistent accessibility that sparked capital investment and growing economic opportunity.
What kind of memories do you have of being a kid and exploring the neighborhood? Was it going to your friend’s houses? Or being grown up enough to walk to school all by yourself? In the rural community of San Antonio, the children on the opposite side of the river from the school could see the school from their homes, but would walk an hour in the opposite direction to a different school because often times the river was too high to cross safely.
Meet Derlin. When the community was in discussions with Project Schoolhouse to collaborate on building a school, they decided it was important to make sure children on both sides would be able to have equal, safe, and convenient access to the school. When the residents voiced this need and asked Project Schoolhouse to collaborate on building a pedestrian bridge, Project Schoolhouse was happy to respond to the request.
Derlin is a local father who stepped in as a community organizer. His easy smile and approachable nature contribute to his ability to bring people together to pursue a common goal. While Project Schoolhouse paid for the materials, engineering plans, and skilled labor, the community volunteered all of the manual labor to bring this project to fruition.
The roughly 35 families of San Antonio volunteered 3 days a week to excavate and build a school and bridge. Derlin reflects, “It’s really worth dedicating this time to work. It doesn’t matter if we have to dedicate a year or more to work because it’s an effort that we as parents can do so that our children can achieve more opportunities, so that they can have their school, have water, so that they can feel safe and happy.” Derlin kept everyone energized and engaged throughout the project with his positive attitude and reminders of why the work is important.
The people of San Antonio truly demonstrated their capacity to organize and work collectively. With a Project Schoolhouse master builder directing them, the families volunteered countless hours to get the job done. They collected 5,000 boulders from the river and then excavated the riverbed using 5-gallon buckets. They dug pits, built pillars, and even learned how to weld! They did everything by hand…including lifting and placing the giant metal beams. It took 9 months of hard labor, but the 100-meter bridge that now exists enables all children a quick and safe walk to school.
The bridge has also contributed to a great deal of community pride in San Antonio. Because they built it with their own hands, the bridge has a special meaning. Having this key piece of infrastructure has also contributed to economic activity since it provides consistent, easy to access the community. We see residents investing in their homes and farms thanks to the stability this infrastructure lends to the community. The bridge has united the community and set them up for growth and prosperity. It is an example of why Project Schoolhouse takes great care to listen and respond to voiced need, the bedrock of how we work.
Written by Heather Heiss