Este post também está disponível em: Portuguese (Brazil)

The project “SANEAR AMAZONIA: Social mobilization towards water security for extractivist families in the Amazon”  has as its objective access to water for human consumption in the extractivist communities of the Amazon, by way of providing the following social technologies: Community Multiuse Rainwater Access System and the Autonomous Multiuse Rainwater Access System.

This is a strategy that assures direct access to potable water for 2.800 extractivist families. Indirect impact will be felt by way of replicating the best adopted practicies for other populations in considered areas, equivalent to approximately 8.000 families.

The criteria for selecting areas for the Sanear Amazonia program were: a) Have good social organization and active leaderships; b) accomodate members of the CNS board of directors that may oversee  and organize construction; c) must allow the development of activities in any time period; d) must make possible the installation of demonstrative units in domiciles for rainwater collection; e) must reflect the gamut of locations that will receive the systems in the future (lowland, dry land, individual housing and conglomeration of housing).

As a total 2,800 Social Technologies for Rainwater Access will be built. The quantity, however, of Community and Autonomous Rainwater Acccess Systems will only be determined after the family mobilization stage in the region occurs, throughout the project’s execution.

The replication of this water access technology has already been tested by the Rural Producer’s Association of Carauari – ASPROC. In partnership with National Extractivist Population Council – CNS and with Memorial Chico Mendes, they will make the colection of water for human consumption viable as well as adopt better hygiene practicies, waste management, and involve their entire population with equal opportunity regardless of gender or age.

The proposal of this project is that its implementation of water access technologies be developed in accordance with the norms of established by the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger (MDS) which deal with the following modalities of social technology: Autonomous Multiuse Rainwater Access System and – Community Multiuse Rainwater Access System. The project will be implemented in accordance with these social technologies.

The program will be implemented in accordance with the following methodological principals:

• It will raise awareness and create autonomy: democratic intervention which generates colective appropriation of the knowledge introduced while consistently taking into account local realities. This translates, in practice, into incentives and facilitation of colective processes capable of identifying problems, establishing priorities and planning initiatives to reach solutions compatible with family interests, needs and potential.
• Learn by doing: intervention which takes into account the notion that “the only way you can learn is if learning is a result of doing”. The method of participation makes it possible to learn by doing as knowledge is introduced through practice within the families.  que considera a máxima que “não se aprende a não ser como resultado de um fazer”.
• Articulate partnerships: The efforts to changing mindsets and behaviors especially in relation to water and food security, requires the construction of ample mutual support among families, communities and institutions which are active in the communities. For this purpose meetings will be routinely held facilitation the articulation of partnerships.
• Stimulate the participation of families and their organizations in the development of the project (planning, execution, monitoring, systematization and evaluation): individual and collective actions will contribute to the development of self-esteem, autonomy and creative and innovative capacities.
• Support community intervention: sharing of experiences, incentives towards reflection and collection elaboration of proposals that favor dialogue between populations and the State promoting sustainable development.
• Give value to extractivism: the knowledge and experience of extractivists are among the guarantees of harmony to be sustained in the maintanance of natural resource use and in the assurance of a better quality of life.

This project is supported by the Brazil without Poverty Program and by the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger.