SIKSAYARI: AN ISOLATED COMMUNITY THAT FOUND HOPE
Siksayari is an indigenous community located in Nicaragua’s Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region. With more than 3,200 inhabitants living in extreme poverty, Siksayari has a 76.3% of poverty rate.
In this rural community families collected water for drinking, cooking, and for house chores from nearby dirty, untreated, and unsanitary streams.
The role of collecting water was assumed by women and girls. To collect the necessary water to fulfill their tasks, they spent 60 to 120 minutes a day and walked 500 to 1,000 meters each time to reach the stream.
Due to its deplorable conditions and the use of this contaminated water, waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and hepatitis started spreading around the community. These diseases started affecting children under 5 years of age.
In 2017, ANF noticed that Siksayari lacked access to decent and basic necessities for their population. Formal education, public infrastructure, electricity, healthcare, and clean water were missing in this vulnerable community.
Classes were suspended and almost half of the school year was lost due to the schools deplorable conditions. Lack of medical attention and equipment resulted in infant deaths and children were getting sick due to waterborne illnesses.
Thanks to the helping hand of friends like you, the support of local authorities, and in partnership with strategic partners like Food For The Poor, on May 2017, we started the construction of a potable water system for Siksayari.
Materials were purchased and delivered to Siksayari, beneficiaries were hands on the project as they carried materials like sandbags and cement from the drop off site to the project’s construction site.
A physical-chemical and bacteriological analysis of water was completed to find a suitable water source to feed the water system. The selected source indicated it would be safe for water consumption after being filtered.
The digging of trenches for conduction lines and installation of aerial crossing pipelines was done with the help of the community.
A water treatment plant was constructed to remove solid particles such as clay, natural organic matter, and other impurities from the water.
On July 2018, the community of Siksayari enjoyed clean, safe, and potable water for the first time. With 180 tap stands around the community women and girls were happy their days of carrying big water buckets over their heads and shoulders were finished.
This vulnerable community was given the vital gift of clean water, however, there was still much more to do for these families.
ANF, again thanks to the compassionate heart of friends and the generosity of Food For The Poor was able to start a new project in this isolated community.
The construction of a preschool, 2 new classrooms and a maternity center were finished in 2021. Students would know enjoy a quality education with the donation of 250 school desks and a safe and secure infrastructure. Mothers would have the necessary medical attention to give birth and take care of their newborn babies.
These projects brought hope to Siksayari, your helping heart and kindness drastically changed the lives of these vulnerable families.
