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Blue Schools in Latin AmericaMexico and Bolivia

Escuela Azul / École Bleue Trapiche Bajo

Two Blue School projects that brought rainwater, toilets and school gardens to schools in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Potosí, Bolivia.

CompletedRainwater for WASHMexico 2014–2015; Bolivia 2018
© IRHA
WhereOaxaca region, Mexico; Trapiche Bajo, Betanzos, Potosí department, Bolivia
WhenMexico 2014–2015; Bolivia 2018
WithNeta Cero and IRRI (Mexico); Sumaj Punchay (Bolivia)

The Challenge

In Trapiche Bajo, in Potosí, where rain is scarce, the school lacked water and had only six toilets. Sanitary facilities were old, hygiene was poor and diarrhoea was a risk for children. Many municipalities had built covered playgrounds with large roofs, but the rain falling on them was not used. In Oaxaca, fetching water was a heavy burden for communities, especially for women, and water quality was poor.

What We Did

  • Mexico: with Neta Cero and IRRI, equipped schools with rainwater systems and improved toilets, and set up a rainwater treatment plant to improve the quality of drinking water.
  • Bolivia: with Sumaj Punchay ("towards better days" in Quechua), built ferrocement rainwater tanks fed by school roofs, from March 2018.
  • Rehabilitated the school's sanitary facilities and supplied the nearby health post with water.
  • Reused grey water from the sinks to irrigate crops in walipini (traditional underground greenhouses) and in outdoor garden plots.
  • Trained the people in charge of the systems so that they last.

Results

  • By May 2019, the Bolivian school and health post had used rain-harvested drinking water for more than six months.
  • 173 schoolchildren in Trapiche Bajo gained drinking water and new toilets.
  • School gardens added vegetables to pupils' diets and showed how to grow local plants.
  • Sumaj Punchay saw the school as a pilot. It has since built another rainwater reservoir in the community of Chilcani.
  • In Mexico, the treatment plant improved drinking water quality and eased the burden of fetching water, especially for women.
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Partners and Funders

Mexico: Neta Cero and IRRI. Bolivia: Sumaj Punchay. The Bolivian Blue School was funded by the Fondation Gertrude Hirzel, SITSE and the Geneva municipalities of Collonge-Bellerive, Plan-les-Ouates, Lancy, Confignon, Cologny and Puplinge.

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