Our newest project is near the town of Los Juries, Argentina. We are partnering with a local non-profit, FUNDESA, to assist the local people. If you are interested in helping, please contact our project leader Guillermo Warley at argentina@chesapeakeewb.org.
We will be working in a rural area of Argentina near the town of Los Juries in the province of Santiago del Estero. Santiago del Estero is one of the poorest province in the country, ranked 19th out of 22 in having the “basic” needs of its population met according to the 2001 census.
About 1,300 families live in the area in which we will be working. Most are farmers. Ethnically most are criollos, a mixture of the original inhabitants mixed with immigrants from Spain and to a lesser degree Syria and Lebanon. The population density is very low, with the relatively few number of families spread over a large area.
The biggest immediate need in the area is clean, safe drinking water. The area is very dry, receiving less than 450 mm (17.7 inches) of rainfall a year. There are no surface waters nearby, and groundwater is contaminated with a mixture of man-made (fecal coliforms) and natural (arsenic, cadmium, etc) contaminants. Most residents currently purchase bottled water from the town of Los Juries or from one of the few residents who have clean wells.
Our partner is a local non-profit names FUNDESA. FUNDESA has been working with the people of this area for many years.
Since the greatest initial need is drinking water, that is where our chapter will begin. Because there is no surface water within a reasonable distance, and given the contaminated nature of the groundwater, we will begin by concentrating on rainwater harvesting. We are still at the very early stages, but ideas include a large central collection system to serve multiple homes and families and/or smaller systems for individual homes that can be easily and cheaply replicated throughout the region. We will need to gather more information from an assessment trip before we can determine which strategy will work best for this region.
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