SEPTEMBER 2020
(Project in the Wichi neighborhood of Misión Chaqueña, Salta, Argentina)
Marita Solidaria contributes so that 20 Wichi families have drinking water.
SUPPORT OUR ACTION:
FUNDRAISING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER WELLS
(Drinking water supply)
The objective of the fundraiser is to finance the construction of water wells in Wichí communities, in the province of Salta, Argentina.
Each well can supply drinking water for around 20 families.
**Financing includes materials and labor**
MATERIALS
* Submersible pump kit
* Well pipes
THERE’S NO WATER:
The northern zone of the province of Salta – as in hundreds of other places in the country – is in a process of constant deforestation which is forcing the inhabitants to live in extreme conditions, often left to their own means for survival.
The freedom of movement through this territory where the Wichí people have been self-sufficient for 5,000 years, is disappearing. Today the communities are destined to be supplied with water from puddles next to roads, ponds and drinking wells intended for animals. This deplorable situation directly impacts the health of the communities.
NEGATIVE HEALTH ASPECTS RELATED TO THE LACK OF POTABLE WATER
The shortage of drinking water in the communities directly affects health; this is seen in the increase of numerous diseases caused by the lack of hygiene “water-washed diseases”, as they are
– Ophthalmic and dermatological diseases, such as scabies, trachoma, conjunctivitis, etc.
– Diseases transmitted by lice such as recurrent fever and typhus.
– Diseases of oral-faecal transmission: diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid and paratyphoid fever, Hepatitis A, cholera, poliomyelitis and various parasites caused by helminths.
This situation is unsustainable since all people must have safe access to a sufficient amount of water for drinking and cooking and for personal and domestic hygiene. Without this access to drinking water there is no way to improve the health of the population in the Wichí communities.
Who are the Wichí?
The Wichí are an indigenous people of South America. They are a large group of tribes that extend around the headwaters of the Bermejo River and the Pilcomayo River, in Argentina and Bolivia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wich%C3%AD
DECLARATION
The individuals that are part of Marita Solidaria and the Fundación Deuda Interna believe that the preventable deterioration of human health is, to a large extent, one of the most evident factors of the lack of equity and justice among the Indigenous communities.
We also believe in the importance of educating people in the prevention of illness, the promotion of health and in investigating all those situations that generating or perpetuating health inequities or injustices