Maldonado Water Project Update From Mano a Mano Co-Founder Segundo Velasquez
Mano a Mano Co-Founder Segundo Velasquez is currently in Bolivia as part of a trip that includes visits from Rotary Clubs and Twin Cities-area teachers. He recently visited one of Mano a Mano’s water projects in progress in Maldonado, and sent a few pictures along with the following brief note:
“The project is beginning to come together. One half of the length of the levee foundation has been sealed. And now, they are beginning to fill. The other half is being sealed with bentonite. Soon the full length of the levee will be getting compacted.”
Pictures from Maldonado
When completed, this project will make it possible for 96 subsistence farm families (about 600 people) to irrigate 250 acres of cropland and to water their livestock, as well as having water for household use.
Water Projects like this One Are in High Demand
Mano a Mano Engineer Boris Rodriguez working at Maldonado, May 2017. As with many of our projects, the working conditions are difficult: it is about 14,000 feet above sea level, and it is cold, wet, and windy.
Site of Maldonado reservoir.
14 Photos from February 2017: Starting Survey Work on the Water Project in Maldonado, Bolivia
Mano a Mano’s Most Recently Completed Water Project in Wirkini
Ivo Velasquez from Mano a Mano’s counterpart organization Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo talks about the impact our newest water reservoir project in Wirkini will have for the communities in the area; we completed this reservoir in October 2016. The reservoir provides access to water for more than 2,000 people in the 5 communities in the area. People were extremely happy with the completion of the project, saying that the reservoir is the “inheritance that they will give to their children.”
Each Project is a Partnership
In the near future, Maldonado will be able to benefit from improved access to water like the communities in Wirkini. Every project that Mano a Mano does is a partnership that includes many people working together (learn more about our partnership model here).
A local woman works on the Wirkini reservoir in 2016. The community is always actively involved in every Mano a Mano project.