Asociación para el desarollo de los pueblos (ADP)

This NGO supports rural grassroots organizations and offers training and institutional support to communities throughout Nicaragua that want to carry out sustainable development projects.

About two years ago, the people of San Buenaventura village, a small Nicaraguan community with a population of 1,000, decided they'd had enough of walking many kilometres on foot to secure drinking water. With the help of the ADP, a committee was set up to help create a long-term solution.

The committee quickly tracked a mountain spring close to the village and organized to dig a canal to channel the spring directly to the community and to build a water reservoir. The entire community contributed to the operation, from raising funds to the actual digging, as well as the upkeep of the new facility. A 13-kilometre trench was hollowed out by hundreds of men, women, and teenagers, who also built a huge 6,000-gallon reservoir, and now the villagers can enjoy easy access to clean water.