The Waters of Ccotataqui
The community of Ccotataqui in celebration of water - for themselves, their crops and livestock, and for its continuation on earth.
Alpaca herding, the primary source of livelihood for indigenous communities in Peru, is threatened from climate change.
After years of observing changes in the landscape, the community of Ccotataqui, Peru identified water as a main concern for the future. Elders looked towards the young people to build partnerships, envision solutions, and take action for this vital element and sustainer of life- water.
The young leaders created a grassroots association, ASODEBICC (Asociación para el Desarollo y Bienestar de la Comunidad de Ccotatqui), and worked with various US partners to develop a four-phased plan that combines traditional ecological knowledge and western techniques.
Completion of Proyecto ‘Cruz Pata’ for water retention. Water is also returned to the earth in the ancient conservation technique of ‘amunas’, or recharging of the groundwater.
The Solar Mamas
We supported Barefoot College International in a convening of indigenous women and government leaders to support a new training center in Bajul, Guatemala.
The eldest solar mama, Julieta Tzoy aged 69, who had no formal education but says she ‘wants to learn forever’.
For over a decade, Barefoot College International has been working to share their innovative model in Latin America, and a new training campus for rural women has finally come to fruition in Bajul, Guatemala.
This unique program trains indigenous women to be solar engineers, or ‘solar mamas’, who will help bring new light and energy to their remote villages.
In 2021, We helped to support the first convening of indigenous women, the Embassy of India, Republic of Guatemala, and Barefoot College International. Due to their outstanding work, they have since been awarded the Presidential Environmental Medal for their work.
Locally led Adaptation
Who wants a cookie cutter approach? No one. Especially when it doesn’t work. But the ‘Mukuru Approach’? We like it.
With over 10 years in Community-based Planning for one of the largest slums in Nairobi, the outcomes were different. The Global Center for Adaptation shares their main principles:
Meaningful Engagement (of over 400,000 residents! with every latrine, water tap, and electricity pole mapped)
Genuine partnerships, at different levels (we must continue to widen the tent)
Integrated solutions
Out-of-the-box thinking on what planning and execution can look like in resource-constrained areas
Photo by Peter Muiruri on a new thoroughfare (once an ‘open sewer’ in Mukuru, Nairobi.)