Our HOTC team made a technical visit to Taykome in early July to arrive at a formal agreement with the community. HOTC conducted two community meetings in partnership with the village chief. These meeting were translated from Spanish to Matsigenka, and had great attendance turnouts by the community members. We also made house to house visits to speak with each head of household to discuss the building of their tap stand.

HOTC executive director Nancy Santullo walked every meter of the terrain where the water lines will be laid, with project foreman, Caleb Matos Chavez, and community members discussing in detail project execution. Our technical team also made house-to-house visits to conduct soil percolation tests that measured the absorbency of ground for our greywater drains. This testing was labor intensive due to the fact that the men and children of the community had to haul huge pots and containers of water from long distances to fill the test hole which were 2 ft deep x 2 ft long x 16 in. wide. We accomplished a multitude of tasks, and gathered our final data necessary to complete our engineering design.

The people of the community were filled with excitement that construction of their gravity flow water system and tap stands will begin by August 20th, 2009. Tayakome will be the first native community in the protected zone of the Manu National Park to receive integral and culturally appropriate health services that respects their cultural and environmental needs. This is monumental to the history of a remote native community in the Manu Rain Forest Biosphere Reserve.

Our visit was nearly flawless. The rain stayed away, and our long river travel was executed perfectly. Our total travel time on the water was 5 days.

Many thanks to all of our GlobalGiving donors, for your generosity and friendship. Our year to date total of funds raised is $5100. We ask, however, for your continued support. We still have 95K to raise for the flow of clean water to become an reality for the people. Through sharing our abundance, we make our world a BETTER place for us all.

Thank you and Bless you all,

Nancy Santullo
Executive Director

Pictures:

• Executive Director meeting with Chief of Tayakome. (JPG)
• Villagers & HOTC at the point where the water will be captured f (JPG)
• Villagers conducting ground percolation test for greywater drain (JPG)