Climate Action Dominican Republic Project #13255

Fuentes de Vida Community Water Project

by Fundacion Grupo Puntacana

Project Report | Jul 27, 2015
July 2015

By Jake Kheel | Puntacana Ecological Foundation Director

July 2015 Progress Report: One year out and counting!

System update:

The Fuentes de Vida coalition is pleased to announce that over one year after the completion of the Domingo Maiz waste water treatment system, the constructed wetlands is working great. We knew the first year would be a challenge as the community continued to assume more operational control of the system, the bacteria growing the rocks and plants roots continued to propogate (and therefore sanitize the water more effectively), the macrofita plants grew, and endless troubleshooting.

In short, the Constructed Wetlands as an effective wastewater treatment system has passed its initial test, proving resilient and effective in treating the community’s wastewater. Grupo Puntacana continues to regularly test the treated water for key contamination indicators and work with the community members assigned to oversee the constructed wetlands. As the municipality’s first and only public wastewater treatment system the Fuentes de Vida project continues to serve as a model for future water projects in the area.

Community Engagement:

July 4th - 7th, Athletes from Virginia Tech University carried out a 5 days sports camp at the Puntacana Ecological Foundation for youth from the worker community of Veron. In total 50 kids from Domingo Maíz attended the camp, where they also participated in an educational program sponsored by Deportes Para la Vida (“Sports for Life”), a local Dominican NGO dedicated to educating kids about HIV/AIDS prevention).

If you are regular follower of the Fuentes de Vida project then you already know that education is a core component of project’s mission. Sanitation and hygiene or just part of the educational scope of the initiative, aside from water related concerns, HIV/AIDS, bullying, women’s rights and environmental projects all are given particular emphasis and the Deportes para la Vida program is a particularly well received annual program by the community both the youths and the parents of Domingo Maiz.

Looking Ahead:

During the first half of July 2015, the Fuentes de Vida Coalition hired a community research expert to carry out an assessment in Domingo Maiz. This third party audit will be completed in the next month and will give a thorough assessment of the community’s adoption of the water system thus far. Armed with this information the Fuentes de Vida Coalition will then assess the possibility of carrying out Phase II of the Domingo Maiz project (installing a potable water system) or continuing to work with the community in the areas they are still lacking before making any further significant infrastructural investment into the community.

This stepwise approach ensures that we invest your generous donations wisely and allocate funds where they are needed most. That being said your continued support is still very much needed and so we ask that you please continue to donate to this project as the real work is only just beginning!

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Apr 21, 2015
April, 2015

By Jacob Kheel | Puntacana Ecological Foundation Director

Fuentes de Vida wastewater treatment system

First Global Giving Report of 2015!

While maybe not as exciting as the heady construction phases of 2014, this is now the true test of the Fuentes de Vida wastewater treatment system: the test of time.

Results thus far?

The wetlands treatment system is holding up very well. When normal maintenacne issues occur, the system still operates at a high level – thanks to the water being gravitationally fed and the rocks/plants working to naturally purify the water, the system is proving to be very hardy.

No GlobalGiving report for FDV would be complete without mentioning our project partners Positive Legacy. Once again, on January 26^th, concert-goers and volunteers from the Positive Legacy volunteered for a day of service in Domingo Maiz. The day’s service project was to continue painting the mural behind the wetlands system with educational murals, educational sporting activities through Deportes Para la Vida (“Sports for Life”, a local Dominican NGO dedicated to educating kids about HIV/AIDS prevention) and a community wide clean up – all done in typical Positive Legacy fashion; with a community celebration with local musicians playing typical music from the Dominican Republic. The community of Domingo Maiz showed their support by turning out in force with the youth of the community making up the majority of the workforce.

What’s next for Fuentes de Vida?

Moving forward the Ecological Foundation along with its project partners in the Fuentes de Vida coalition will work with the neighborhood association of Domingo Maiz to ensure the wastewater treatment system is operating correctly while simultaneously beginning preparations for the implementation of the potable water system in the community (Phase 2 of Fuentes de Vida). Before making the necessary investment in additional major public works project the neighborhood association of Domingo Maiz must finalize the formation of a water committee in charge of overseeing the maintenance and operation of the water systems – before beginning construction on the potable water system. The Puntacana Ecological Foundation is helping to consult and assist the neighborhood association throughout these organizational processes to better ensure a smooth operation/adoption once construction of the potable water system is complete. We will continue to keep all of you Global Giving Givers up to speed as things continue to advance - it may not be the most exciting thing to hear about incremental progress with community organization and/or a slow hand over of system maintenance to local plumbers but it’s the most important part and we have only just begun. We need your support more than ever.

Mural painting during service day

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Jan 12, 2015
December 2014

By Jacob Kheel | Puntacana Ecological Foundation Director

Phase 1 Inaugurated! On to Phase 2…

The Puntacana Ecological Foundation and the rest of the Fuentes de Vida (FDV) coalition are proud to announce that the constructed wetlands wastewater treatment system was officially inaugurated on Sunday, November 2^nd. In attendance was the Neighborhood Association of Domingo Maiz, representatives of Peace Corps Dominican Republic, community leaders from other barrios throughout the municipality of Veron, local businesses and other organizations involved in the initiative, and of course, the community members of Domingo Maiz. The inauguration not only served to commemorate the completion of the region’s first public waste water treatment system but also to empower other communities in the area to take similar action towards improving their living conditions. During the inauguration the FDV coalition showcased a short documentary, called Fuentes de Vida: Desarrollo Comunitario Integral, which clearly describes the project’s history, mission, and execution in a concise and engaging narrative. The documentary was produced by the Dominican Consortium for Competitive Tourism and World Television with funding from the Partners of America Foundation and can be seen on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHbz91nqf0

More recently, on December 5^th, concertgoers and volunteers from the not-for-profit foundation, Positive Legacy (the largest independent backer of the FDV initiative), volunteered for a service day in Domingo Maíz. December’s service day continued the community works started during the March 2014 day of service including a community wide clean up, painting informative murals next to the constructed wetlands, and hosting a community celebration with local musicians playing typical meringue and bachata music. Community turn out was great with the youth of the community comprising the majority of the workforce. We look forward to hosting another service day with Positive Legacy at the end of January 2015.

Looking ahead to 2015, the Fuentes de Vida coalition will seek to continue working with the neighborhood association of Domingo Maiz to implement a potable water system (Phase 2 of the FDV initiative). In the rapidly developing municipality of Veron, change can often seem to be the only constant. In keeping with this sense of change and progress elections are to be held shortly to elect new members to the neighborhood association of Domingo Maiz and form a new water committee in charge of overseeing the maintenance and operation of the water systems – before beginning construction on the potable water system. The Puntacana Ecological Foundation will help consult and assist the neighborhood association throughout these organizational processes to better ensure a smooth operation and adoption once construction of the potable water system is complete.

In closing, on behalf of the Puntacana Ecological Foundation and the rest of the Fuentes de Vida Coalition we would like to thank all of you who have donated to the project to date. Moving forward we hope we can count on your continued support for this pioneering project and hope you share this GlobalGiving Page with anyone you think may be interested in learning about this project. We wish you the very best in 2015!

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