Opening of Community Drinking Water Supply in Botopasi, Interior of Suriname

ECHO (Donor) and PAHO/ WHO (Project Organization)
Botopasi, Interior of Suriname, Suriname, 22 Mar 07

Botopasi is a Maroon/ Afro-Descendant village in the Interior of Suriname, which is a remote area in the lower Amazon. It is situated along the Suriname-River. The inhabitants belong to the Saramaccan Tribe and have their own traditional administration. They do not have property rights and are not really part of the national economic system. In the dry season people do not have access to safe drinking water and the occurence of diarrhea is high. Also, they spend 2 to 3 hours a day on obtaining drinking water for their family, which restrains socio-economic development.

With this project a drinking water pump and solar panels have been installed as well as adequate treatment and storage facilities. The most remarkable about this project is that the community has constructed the facilities themselves with some coaching by a drinking water specialist. On World Water Day, 22nd of March 2007, the new system will be opened accompanied by a WASH training for teachers and schoolchildren.

The project serves as a model to understand that low-cost, low-maintenance, high-sustainability, high-transparency and high-community-participation can be achieved. It also serves to understand that inhabitants in remote areas with their own culture are the most capable themselves to construct and to maintain a drinking water system with their own initiatives. With the right type of coaching and the right supply of materials, access to rural water supply & sanitation should not be a difficult goal worldwide.

Contact: Niels van Eybergen <niels.vaneybergen@gmail.com>