The Irish Catholic, November 25, 2010
One of Sr Regina's neighbours hand-washing her family's laundry in basins of water. With no washing machines or
proved what we are capable
of.''
The water company em-
ployed by the government
only brings the water pipes
as far as the outside of each
house. The family must pay
an installation charge for this
and a monthly metered bill
for water consumption, and
most people cannot afford to
pay for the water to be
plumbed inside the house
on top of this.
Tubs and buckets of water
are used for cooking, clean-
ing and washing, while the
toilet is a silo (dry latrine)
outside the house. The silos
breed parasites, which lead
to problems like diarrhoea
and stomach bugs, which
can also be caused by water
being left lying in plastic
barrels.
ADSOPUR's current objec-
tive is to provide fully
plumbed bathrooms in each
home in the parish at an
affordable price. They use
local builders and carpenters
to create employment, and
with the help of a parish
social worker each family is
accessed so that they can pay
back the cost of the bath-
room in instalments accord-
ing to their means. It is a
simple idea, but most effec-
tive.
The ADSOPUR architect
works with each family to
draw up the permanent plan
of how they want their home
to look, and the new bath-
room is then constructed
according to its place on the
plan. Most families start out
life in the pueblo living in the
equivalent of a garden shed.
When they have saved en-
ough money this will be
upgraded to brick and even-
tually will gain a second
story. As the ADSOPUR bath-
room is the first permanent
brick-built room, is it impor-
tant that it fits into the
future plan for the house.
Employment
Henry Quispe Cristobal is
one of the builders working
on the project and he was
able to build his own bath-
room as part of scheme. ``I
have the double advantage of
being facilitated in putting
up my own bathroom and in
getting employment from
the project,'' he says. ``When
I was first contacted to take
part in the project I was very
suspicious and wondered
where's the catch. After
working on two bathrooms I
could see this project was
transparent, it was some-
thing unique and not a false
promise. Now all my neigh-
bours are asking me about
it.''
Martin Zabbanick and Va-
leria Luna moved to Lima 16
running water in their houses, hand-washing is a laborious weekly task.
Isabella Rodriguez's daughter Dayana and
grandson, Justin, in front of their old dry
toilet.
years ago because they
wanted more opportunities
for education and employ-
ment. ``We just had a house
and a small piece of land,
that wouldn't sustain us with
the children,'' says Martin. ``If
you work in agriculture you
Mototaxis line a street in the parish of Cristo Liberador,
Lima, Peru.
Ana Moralez in her new bathroom constructed as part of ADSOPUR's
pilot project in Lima, Peru. Photos: Mags Gargan
can grow what you eat, but
to transport produce to mar-
ket in Lima, you gain noth-
ing.''
They say they got in-
volved in the ADSOPUR pro-
ject because it was an easy
means of getting a perma-
| FEATURE|29
nent toilet built, with an
affordable method of pay-
ment.
``The toilet is more hygie-
nic, and we have more se-
curity and privacy. There is
also the sense of achieve-
ment, a sense that life is
advancing,'' Martin says.
Martin works from home
making shoes and Valeria
sells them in their market
stall. They have three chil-
dren and her nephew Billy
lives with them, while an-
other nephew eats there, so
bathing and sanitation could
be a struggle in their little
house. Now Valeria says that
if the boys leave the bath-
room dirty, she makes them
use the old one for a while as
a punishment!
``The bathroom is the best
room in the house,'' she says.
``We just have to win the
lottery to do the rest of the
house!''
Ana Moralez and her hus-
band Juan were one of the
first families to take up AD-
SOPUR's offer of a new bath-
room because they wanted
to improve their standard of
living for their two children.
``The silo was smelly and
uncomfortable, especially in
summer when flies and in-
sects caused problems,'' Ana
says. ``Up to now my sons
had to bathe together, then I
would have to stand them in
living room to dry. With the
neighbours walking past
they had no privacy. Now
you can just throw them into
the shower Ð it is much
more hygienic.
``It is also economic Ð you
can pay back the association
what you can afford to pay in
instalments. We wouldn't
have a bathroom without
the project. We would have
had to take out a loan.''
In this basic wooden ca-
bin, slumped on a hill of
desert rock where every-
thing is covered with an
oppressive layer of grey dust,
hiding any attempt to bring
vegetation or colour to the
environment, Ana's white
and blue tiled bathroom is
like a gleaming oasis. With
three men in the house Ana
picked the colour blue for the
new room, but she says she
paid extra to have a Grecian
style image of the woman
running through the tiles to
represent herself. It is a basic
room with a toilet, sink and
bath with a shower, some-
thing we take for granted in
Ireland, but it has changed
this family's life for the bet-
ter in a huge way.
Mags Gargan travelled to Peru
with the assistance of Misean
Cara which supports the AD-
SOPUR project through fund-
ing from Irish Aid.