Water for the Quichua

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Wednesday, September 3rd.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: clean water.

Globally, about 1 in 4 people lack reliable access to clean water. That puts them at risk for parasites and other waterborne diseases.

BROWN: In recent decades, foreign aid has poured billions into water projects around the world. But too often, pumps and pipelines break down within a few years. The problem? Poor planning, little local involvement, and no long-term funding for maintenance.

MAST: In Ecuador, Christian engineers and their missionary partners are trying to change that by involving local communities in every aspect of the project.

WORLD correspondent Theresa Haynes recently visited the Quichua highlands in Ecuador and brings us the story.

AUDIO: [Shovels]

THERESA HAYNES: Quichua women, dressed in bright alpaca wool, shovel dirt into a long trench that runs along a quinoa field. Teenagers and men join them, covering a miles-long pipe that will deliver clean water to their homes.

It's demanding work, especially for the elderly women. But they are eager to help build the new system that will replace the decades-old network of hoses that delivers contaminated water.

Civil engineer Chris Visscher serves with Life Giving Water International. He’s helping to oversee the project.

VISSCHER: And we also did some health surveys before starting the project, and every family that I spoke with that drank the water without boiling it first all had huge problems with parasites and diarrhea and all kinds of different things.

SOUND: [People working]

Visscher has traveled to this remote village with his Ecuadorian ministry partners and a team of American missionaries. But they’re not doing the bulk of the work.

Nancy Cortez, an Ecuadorian who has worked in community development for more than two decades, explains how they divide up the project. Everyone pitches in.

CORTEZ: The people in these areas are used to working in mingas. Minga is a Quichua word that means ‘working in is community all together.’ So when we do water projects, that's what we do. We do Mingus, and we bring our technicians to organize the people and tell them what to do, and that's how we accomplish and get the water project done.

Cortez works with CODEINSE, an Ecuadorian ministry that partners with other organizations to design and build sustainable water structures.

But she says it is the Quichua involvement that determines the project's success.

CORTEZ: We don't do projects when the community doesn't get involved, because eventually we leave and they have to take care of the water project.

SOUND: [People working]

Missionaries and Ecuadorian civil engineers design water tanks and systems to safely capture spring water. And Quichua leaders set up a water board to finance ongoing maintenance of the system.

Each household volunteers one family member per minga.

It’s no small commitment. Most water projects take months to complete— sometimes as many as 60 minga days.

SOUND: [Shovels]

Today, engineering interns from George Fox University and volunteers from a church in Illinois are working with the Quichua in Balda Upaxi.

Quichua men help shovel dirt over newly laid water pipes in Balda Upaxi, Ecuador. Photo courtesy of Theresa Haynes

They take turns shoveling dirt over newly laid pipes until mid-afternoon.

Vischer hopes the collaboration between Ecuadorian ministries, American missionaries, and the Quichua will communicate God’s love.

VISSCHER There's a verse in Isaiah that says, the poor, needy search for water, but there is none, but I the Lord will provide. So just that concept that the Lord is providing for their needs and helping them to be able to improve their own situation is really meant to be an encouragement to the community more than anything.

It also gives local Christians an opportunity to build relationships with Quichua.

AUDIO: [Quichua voices, “In Ingles, ‘Thank you.’” Laughter]

Mark Dehaan is one of the engineers working with Life Giving Water.

DEHAAN They see people that are willing to give up their time and their resources, to contribute to their project, and are willing to work alongside them. And we just feel like that's a wonderful encouragement to these communities.

It also provides an opportunity for Cortez and her local team to host Vacation Bible Schools.

Chris Visscher says that’s especially important in areas like this, where evangelical Christians have not always been welcome.

VISSCHER: Last year, they actually had a family that converted to be evangelical, and they got kicked out of the community, and the community took their land and their house, and they had to leave.

But this week, the kids gather while Cortez translates a Bible story.

Visscher says the Quichua’s acceptance of the NGOs and mission teams shows their great need for clean water.

VISSCHER: Maybe they aren't so interested in what we have to say about the gospel, but if we can talk with a few people and just encourage people to search for the Lord on their own, that's the goal.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Theresa Haynes in Balda Upaxi, Ecuador.

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