Pilot Project in Costa Rica

Aguayuda is excited to report that our first project in 2011 will be in Barra Del Colorado, Costa Rica.

With the technical support of a local Costa Rican company named Agua Solutions; Sabrina, Simón and Maggie, a new volunteer, will go to Barra Del Colorado to implement three rainwater harvesting systems with the community on a school, church and health center.

The pilot project will allow us to demonstrate to the community the viability and benefits of individual rainwater catchment systems. During the implementation of the three systems, we will evaluate the system design and examine the roofs and structural conditions of the homes and buildings in Barra del Colorado. This will help us to properly prepare and coordinate for the main project which would provide a rainwater harvesting system for each household.

The goal of this pilot project is to provide the community with a viable, sustainable and independent alternative solution to their water problem that does not hurt the environment and provides the community with sufficient and safe drinking water for all their daily needs.

Best regards,

Happy New Year!

2010 was a very successful year for Aguayuda. Our three completed projects in Colombia from 2009 are still operating and providing access to water to 1,500 people.

Our water truck sponsorship program is providing water to 2 schools and 4 communities in La Guajira, Colombia. These water trucks provide clean water to 800 students and 1,350 people.

2011 will be an extremely busy year for us. Sabrina and Simón will only be working two days a week for Caloris Engineering and will be able to devote much more time to Aguayuda.

Some of the major objectives in 2011 include:

• Create strategic and business plan
• Design new education manual template
• Create four new educational manuals
• Implement projects in Colombia, Costa Rica and Cameroon
• Fundraise, fundraise and fundraise! : )

If anyone is interested in volunteering for Aguayuda, please check out our new volunteer opportunity page below and sign up.

www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/635361/

Thank you to everyone who supported us over the years. We could not have done it without your generous support.

We wish you a healthy and prosperous 2011.

Best regards,

Support from ERM, Grace Lutheran and CR:

We received a $10,000 grant from the "ERM Foundation-North America" for the Bankondji, Cameroon project. If you would like to learn more about the project, you can click here. This grant brings us closer to implementing Phase I of the project in 2011. Phase I consists of 2 wells including hand pumps, which will provide safe drinking water to 2,500 people and a health center in Bankondji.

We also received a generous donation of $500 from the Grace Lutheran Church in Easton, Maryland. This money was used to build a laundry washing station in Ramonero in La Gaujira, Colombia. More info can be found here.

Lastly, Aguayuda was interviewed by Colombia Reports, which is an excellent resource for colombian news in English. The interview can be read here.

Aguayuda thanks the ERM Foundation, Grace Lutheran Church, Colombia Reports and many generous donors that are helping Aguayuda provide access to safe drinking water for people in rural communities.

Take care,