The Need

Four small communities have been identified in the Esmeraldas Province that do not have regular, reliable access to clean drinking water. This: 1) forces residents to spend time and money buying water from questionable outside sources, and 2) forced some inhabitants to migrate outside of their homes to find other communities where they can provide for themselves and their families.

Proper sanitation and hygiene practices are also lacking in these areas. Even with clean water, without these other two essential pieces these communities are still at high risk for health problems and disease.

The Solution - Phase I

 The first phase (in progress) is to work with one community, Ostiones  to provide them clean reliable drinking water access in the most sustainable way possible. Once this phase is complete, it will be followed by a plan to provide proper sanitation and hygiene practices to the community and apply this model to other identified communities in the province.

Ostiones, a small community of approx-imately 300 people, suffers from high levels of poverty. One of the main barriers of development within the community is the lack of potable water and basic health and hygiene services.  Community members suffer from increased incidences of avoidable water-born health diseases due to lack of clean water access and sanitation education. Due to lack of a health care facility within the community, illnesses require traveling to an expensive clinic. Due to the community’s close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, their sources of fresh drinking water are limited due to high salinity.

Next Steps

EWB-USA Portland Professionals is working with Ostiones community and a local NGO, Ecuador Tierra Viva (ETV), to develop a solution to Ostiones’ water crisis. The Portland Professionals and ETV envision a phased project that will include creating the following: a potable water supply and water board followed by sanitation infrastructure and a water sanitation education program. The community will be involved in all decision-making and will be trained to operate and maintain the systems to ensure long-term sustainability.

In January 2012, the Portland Professionals will travel to Ostiones to assess the need, meet the community, collect data, and es-tablish a working relationship with ETV. The chapter plans to continue working with Ostiones over the next five years to develop a working and sustainable solution to the wa-ter and sanitation issues. The goals is to es-tablish a program the community can work with and maintain on their own after EWB has completed their work.  This project is part of a larger program that involves three other communities with similar needs in the same region: La Muralla, Paufi, and Piquigual. After this project is completed, the chapter plans to implement similar projects in these communities.