Over the last few months, I have had the opportunity to visit and get to know several rural communities in Nicaragua. On one particular visit with my coworkers, I had a chance to sit down and talk with a few women who live in Ochomogo, a community that is 6 km away from the nearest paved road.
As we sat and talked in the living room, I could hear howler monkeys calling to each other in the distance. “What are your hopes and dreams for the future?,” asked my coworker to the four women who were sitting with us.
A lot has changed for the women of Ochomogo since San Lucas Foundation started on the clean water project.
Before 2017, the community of Ochomogo struggled with access to potable water. The three hand-dug wells didn’t contain nearly enough water to support the 75 families of this community. With the lack of rain, deforestation, ongoing drought, water contamination, lack of latrines, use of agrochemicals and insufficient waste disposal, quality water has been non-existent in this community. The conditions were so harsh that about 20% of families had someone leaving Ochomogo to look for work in nearby cities or even as far as Costa Rica.
Oftentimes, women would consistently wake up around 3 or 4 am and wait in long lines to draw water from the shared wells. By the time San Lucas started the installation phase of the water project, only one of the three community wells contained water and some women would have to return with an empty bucket if the water level was too low. Some women used carts or horses to transport water but a majority of them carried the water on their heads and traveled by foot. Even when the women brought the water home, the children often became sick after drinking the water.
Once the water project was finished, families had access to potable water from a spigot in or right outside of their homes. This change has had a significant change in the quality of life for community members, especially women. With water access in their homes, women no longer need to wake up at 3 or 4 am and now have one to four hours that were spent on collecting water that can now be spent on other tasks or relaxation. In addition to this, certain tasks like preparing food or bathing take less time with the easy access to water.
Now, five years after this change, the women of Ochomogo are empowered to pursue their dreams.
“What are your hopes and dreams?” asked my coworker to the four women who were sitting with us.
The women smiled and thought for a moment. One of the women in her late twenties shared about her passion for pharmaceutical studies. She currently runs the community medicine cabinet but wants to pursue more education to become a nurse. A young mother in her early thirties shared how she wants to study social sciences, something that young mothers wouldn’t have been able to even imagine just a few years before. Another woman in her thirties runs a venta (a small store) from the side of her house and shared that she wants to study English.
As I sat there and listened to these women share their dreams, I was amazed to see how large of an impact something like clean water access can make, especially in the lives of women. As the community continues to work with San Lucas in areas of conservation agriculture, nutrition and health for pregnant women and infants, saving and budgeting, micro business management, and more, I am hopeful and excited to see these women make their dreams a reality.
Erika Enomoto is serving as a Conservation Agriculture Assistant through MCC’s Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program in Nicaragua.