Mano a Mano staff visited our Wirkini Water Reservoir project in late May 2022, which was full of water. Local residents were also fishing from the reservoir.

This project – 14,000 feet above sea level – was started in 2012 and completed in 2016; it provides irrigation water to at least 341 Bolivian farm families in the area and irrigates 269 hectares of land (average family size is 6, for a total number of beneficiaries of 2,046). Water is typically only available in the Bolivian Highlands for the 2-3 month rainy season, and the rest of the year is a struggle for farmers to have water access for their crops and livestock. These Mano a Mano water reservoir projects retain water and provide water access year-round, which allows for farmers to grow more and better crops, which in turn increases family nutrition and household incomes.

Wirkini Community Talks About Their New Water Reservoir (2017)

Pictures from the Construction and Dedication of the Wirkini Water Reservoir

: Wirkini reservoir construction, June 2015.

: The mayor’s speech complete, everyone at the dedication prepares to watch water begin flowing.

: A woman celebrates the Wirkini reservoir’s completion. The project now provides water to 350 families.

: Wirkini residents placing boulders on levee wall to prevent soil erosion.

: Working on the Wirkini water reservoir project.

: The Wirkini water reservoir full of water, March 2017.

: Farmers look on excitedly as water begins flowing at the Wirkini reservoir dedication in October 2016.

: Wirkini water reservoir.

: Wirkini water reservoir, June 2015.

: Wirkini, Bolivia.

: Mano a Mano works on the path for the water to follow.

: Mano a Mano staff and community volunteers installing tubing at the Wirkini water reservoir project site.

: Local women celebrate during the dedication of the Wirkini reservoir in October 2016.

: Wirkini reservoir construction, June 2015.

: Community members who will be helped by the reservoir applaud the water flow.

: A farmer prepares the wheel that controls water flow.

: Wirkini water reservoir, progress from January 2015.

: Mano a Mano heavy equipment working on the Wirkini reservoir.

: Wirkini water reservoir.

: Mano a Mano staff and community volunteers working side by side on the Wirkini water reservoir (October 2015).

: The Wirkini Water Reservoir, east of Cochabamba, was dedicated on Oct. 18. It represents four years of Mano a Mano’s work.

: Wirkini reservoir construction, June 2015.

: Music, food, and dancing followed the ceremony.

: A local woman works on the Wirkini reservoir – almost everybody pitches in!

: Mano a Mano works on the Wirkini reservoir.

: The Wirkini Water Reservoir with about 20 feet of water when it was dedicated – October 2016.

: Mano a Mano volunteer Ray Wiedmeyer (left) and Mano a Mano co-founder Segundo Velasquez watch the celebration of Mano a Mano’s water reservoir in Wirkini, October 2016.