Earlier this year, Sam Schlesinger, working for Green Empowerment in Ecuador, was awarded an AllPeopleBeHappy Fellow’s grant. Among his goals was to expand Green Empowerment programing in South America and to help raise additional funds for those expanded programs. So it was no surprise that Sam reached out to us to help fund a much needed effort.
“In the immediate aftermath of Ecuador’s deadly April 16, 2016 earthquake… in partnership with the ALTROPICO Foundation and the communities themselves, Green Empowerment proposes to respond to the most pressing needs identified by quake-affected rural communities in southern Esmeraldas – potable water and basic sanitation. Approximately 900 residents of four communities will benefit from this effort…” Green Empowerment was awarded a $10,000 grant for the building of centralized water systems using shallow borehole wells, concrete tank foundations, HDPE tanks with biosand filtration, and public tapstands. This will result in 8 taps for San Salvador, 4 taps for Balzar, 6 taps for Mono Manso, and 7 taps for San Jose. The sanitation effort will result in the building of multiple composting latrines.