Northeastern Brazil Groundwater Project

Bringing Social Equity into the Heart of the Moxotó Region, Pernambuco

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Social work in Pernambuco began with a diagnosis of the social and environmental situation of the pilot area in April 2001, and continued until the end of December 2004 when a number of community projects were concluded and inaugurated. Three institutions handled different components of the social/environmental program in the Samambaia pilot area, in addition to CPRM, which participated in many of the social activities while it was responsible for most aspects of the technical (hydrogeological) program. 

The three social components of the project were handled by: 

(1) the Social Services Department of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), under the coordination of Professor Ana Cristina Brito Arcoverde, took care of the social program proper; 

(2) Agência Estadual do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (formerly Companhia Pernambucana do Meio Ambiente) (CPRH), under the leadership of Hortência Maria Barbosa de Assis, did the environmental component; 

(3) Fundação Joaquim Nabuco (FUNDAJ) conducted the gender agenda with a great competence and skill, under the direction of Dr. Adélia de Melo Branco. 

Activities included conducting interviews with community leaders and the population at large, performing various types of social and environmental assessments and gender analyses, and running workshops on a variety of topics including water management, sanitation, health and first aid, waste disposal and recycling, citizenship, etc. 

Workshops and seminars

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In the beginning, the population of this pilot area did not show much interest for the project or in participating in its activities, in sharp contrast to communities in the other pilot areas all of which embraced PROASNE with a great deal of enthusiasm. This situation no doubt reflected the fact that the communities here are more isolated and less organized than in the other pilot areas, and that they do not seem to get the political attention and support that other regions enjoy. 

This was nowhere more evident than in the community of Samambaia where the PROASNE social workers experienced difficulty in enticing the population to attend meetings and to take part in project activities. They observed that the residents showed little solidarity towards their community and most were skeptical that there may be a better future ahead for them if only they put in the effort. They saw the lack of opportunity as being so entrenched in their lives that for them, it was unimaginable that their lot would ever improve. They seemed to have lost hope. 

Despite the low self esteem that continues to prevail in the communities of this pilot area, things did ameliorate with PROASNE. The project brought some real tangible improvement in the lives of many by providing better access to water and for some, new means of earning a living by creating income-generating opportunities. The training and capacity building that PROASNE provided through a variety of community events, including seminars, workshops, and special training sessions, not only gave those who attended a sense that they were acquiring new skills, but also mobilized, to some extent, the community into taking collective action to resolve their most pressing problems, in a way that would not have been possible before. 

Small community projects

In August 2002, the communities of the Samambaia pilot area voted on the type of project that they wished to push forward with the help of PROASNE.  These are small community projects referred to as "pequenas obras" designed to help meet the short term expectations generated in the population by the "Canadian presence" in their midst.  Few appreciated that the amount of money made available by CIDA for such projects was very small and that the rules for spending it were rather limiting.  In fact, an exception to those rules had to be requested by the project management team in order to be able to cover any of the local costs (a rule apparently set by ABC). Furthermore, the project could not get involved in any work that could have generated environmental impact and/or controversy with the local authorities. 

The voting in each community was organized by PROASNE's social team and was attended by Karen Austin, then Senior Officer at CIDA who was responsible for our project.  The results were presented in a short report (in Portuguese).  In summary, Samambaia gave top priority to an additional desalinization plant; Caiçara and Salgado jointly opted for sewing machines and a community centre for women; and Fazenda Nova requested a new well and an irrigation system.  The Caiçara/Salgado request was accepted without modification while, in Fazenda Nova, PROASNE agreed to drill a new well, but could not afford the expense of an irrigation system that would also have required an environmental impact assessment.  Instead, Fazenda Nova was promised three new water tanks and piped-in water for part of the community, a lower priority, but still an important item on their list.  A new desalinization plant for Samambaia was judged unfeasible because of the political ramifications that such an installation might generate.   However, it was decided that Samambaia would get a new well (this was drilled mostly to test the 2001 geophysical survey results) and PROASNE would build a chicken slaughthering facility in town (see report - in Portuguese - that presents the arguments that led to these new choices).  

The creation of Caiçara's Coopeartca

In Caiçara, PROASNE established a women’s cooperative called Coopeartca where some 22 female members put their creative talents towards producing clothing and handicraft that they sell at a profit in the municipality as well as outside. The centre is housed in a small row unit on main street of Caiçara, made available for the purpose by a relative of one of the members. PROASNE donated 6 sewing machines, and helped transform the facility into a comfortable community centre for the women where they can meet to discuss issues of common interest, undergo training, and unite their collective skills for the benefit of all the members. Through the project, they received training in small business accounting, in how to run a cooperative, in producing quality arts and craft, and in sales techniques. The centre was officially registered as a cooperative, and was inaugurated on March 29th 2003. 

As one of its first initiatives, Coopeartca set up a sales kiosks in Custódia, and later, September 2003, exhibited at an Entrepreneurship Fair in Recife. In the words of its members, Coopeartca improved their lives by enhancing their motivation, stimulated them into making better use of their time, and by providing them with a modest but non-negligible income. They claim that Coopeartca was the best thing to occur in Caiçara for quite some time. (Read more - in Portuguese - about the benefits derived from this action of PROASNE.)

Caiçara's Coopeartca Community Project

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Improving the Water Supply in the pilot area

The condition of the water supply in this semi-arid region is precarious and in some places where it occurs, it can be considered more as a health hazard than the source of a basic need for the population. PROASNE's partner CPRH, carried out a thorough analysis of the state of the water supply in the pilot area, both in terms of quantity and quality. It presented a comprehensive report in October 2002 in which it makes a series of recommendations to improve the situation, as part of an environmental management plan for the region. This reconnaissance work is an excellent example of what should be done first whenever a water project is initiated anywhere in Brazil and, for that matter, anywhere in the world.  Whether the recommendations in the report are acted upon in the near future or not, this work will remain a lasting contribution of PROASNE to the region.  

In summary, water is available to the residents of the pilot area through various sources: 

(1) Tubular (drilled) water wells: There are 11 tubular wells, averaging 50 m depth. These tap water from fractures in the crystalline bedrock.  Half of these wells are either dry or produce very low yields, and in some cases, their pump is out of order. The wells that do produce water, all have a high degree of salinity, too high for human consumption. There are only two reverse osmosis desalinization apparatus in the pilot area, one in Samambaia and the other in Caiçara, but only the one in Samambaia was operational during the project.  

(2) Hand-dug wells in stream alluvium: There are 21 hand-dug wells in the pilot area which tap into the sub-surface stream waters. They are all shallow, averaging about 4.0 m in depth; most are heavily contaminated with fecal coliforms and other pollutants, due to the fact that domestic animals, residential effluents and garbage characteristically end up in the local creeks.   

(3) Surface water: Creeks and streams are dry most of the year. A few reservoirs and natural lagoons have water throughout the year, in normal rainfall years, but dry up in drought years. But even in normal years, all forms of surface water quickly become polluted and unfit for human consumption.  

(4) Rainwater harvesting: Some houses and public buildings such as schools have systems to collect rainwater from the roofs with storage tanks or cisterns.  Rainwater harvesting is strongly encouraged by the government which instituted a program called "1 milhão de cisternas" (one million cisterns) as part of its "Fome Zero" (zero hunger) program.  The objective is to build 1 million rainwater collection systems between 2003 and 2008. Rainwater harvesting can be very effective when done properly.  Training the population in water management (ways to prevent contamination and water losses, water treatment and conservation methods) is important for success.  At the time of writing, the government "Cisternas" program had not yet reached the Samambaia Pilot Area, but there are a few older cisterns in the area and newer ones have been built nearby.  

(5) Water distribution by tanker trucks: These trucks are omnipresent during severe droughts and are part of the government emergency measures. They provide just enough water to prevent the population, literally millions of people, from dying of thirst, but not enough to sustain any form of agriculture or food production.  

State of the water supply in the Samambaia pilot area

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Following up on the results of the airborne geophysical survey, carried out by PROASNE in April 2001 over the entire pilot area, CPRM drilled 3 new producing water wells in 2003. One of these, drilled on the north side of the town of Samambaia, has a yield of 1,200 L/hr and provides a much needed boost to the town water supply which, until then, consisted of a single well hooked up to a reverse osmosis desalinization apparatus. 

Another high yielding well, over 5,000 L/hr, was drilled by CPRM in Fazenda Nova.  There, the project also provided piped-in water by supplying three 5,000 litre water tanks equipped with pumps and PVC tubing. 

With a number of seminars and workshops dealing with such important issues as protecting the water resources against pollution, managing the domestic water supply, and the importance of sanitation and proper waste disposal, PROASNE has contributed significantly to improving the water situation in this pilot area.  Much remains to be done however, and real improvement will only come about if the population rallies behind the cause and receives adequate support from the elected officials.  

Improved water supply in Samambaia pilot area

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