Safeguarding water supplies in Tabasco
In 2011 Hermann Sewerin GmbH from Gütersloh relaunched the campaign it staged in 2010 to collect money for arche noVa e.V. It was not just the philosophy of the company that prompted Management to once again devote its Christmas budget to an important social project, but also the extremely positive response to the donation the year before.
The choice fell again on Dresden-based organisation arche noVa e.V., firstly due to its highly responsible approach to the donations and secondly, the support it gives to projects that fit in well with Sewerin's declared aims of protecting water resources and gas supplies. In addition, the successful work performed by arche noVa in November 2010 was recognised by the BAMBI award it received in the "Silent Heroes" category in 2010.
Sewerin opted for a project aimed at protecting Mexico's drinking water supply as it is predicted that Mexico and Central America will be especially hard hit by the consequences of climate change. Around a quarter of Mexico's 100 million inhabitants are already coping with problems caused by extreme weather conditions. While parts of the country are increasingly turning into desert due to extended periods of drought, the southeast has been recently plagued by regular flooding caused by the increased occurrence of hurricanes.
A fate also being suffered by the state of Tabasco. After days of heavy rainfall at the end of August 2010, many towns faced high flood levels which lasted for weeks. In Tabasco more than 200,000 people are affected by the floods. In some rural districts almost 50% of inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes. Over 80,000 people took refuge in some 160 camps.
The supply of drinking water was already a problem for inhabitants before the start of the heavy floods. The only sources of water are wells, although most have likewise been flooded. Supplies are highly contaminated because sanitary installations are submerged and animals have drowned in the water. A supply of clean water is thus urgently required.
It is only thanks to the money donated by Sewerin that Dresden-based arche noVa – Initiative for People in Need has been able to embark the project of securing the drinking water supply in Tabasco by building rainwater cisterns. The construction of rainwater tanks from low-cost local materials for homes in the village of Simon Sarlat was scheduled to start in spring 2011. The tanks are being built with the help of the families benefiting from the project, firstly to ensure the transfer of knowledge and secondly, to get the idea to "snowball". The project is being supervised by a technician and a volunteer project worker from arche noVa. Construction of these water tanks will safeguard the drinking water supply of at least 50 families. Some 400 people will benefit directly from the project, although indirectly it will do good in the entire community. The knowledge about building such systems will not just be passed on to the families involved, but other engaged members of the community as well. Acting as a model, the project is also set to have a broad-based impact in the region.
On 14.12.10 a cheque for €26,000 was officially presented to Sven Seifert, MD of arche noVa e.V, by Andreas Schweitzer, sales manager at Hermann Sewerin GmbH. As was the case last year, Sewerin is again allowing its business partners and staff to play an active role in the campaign by awarding them all shares in the project in December, each with a nominal value of €30 euros.