Clean water for Asháninka communities in Peru

Aim

Support the supply of clean water for Indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest in Peru

About the project 

Indigenous Asháninka communities have asked us to help them supply freshwater to four remote villages. The communities themselves will design and build the water infrastructure, but have asked for support to purchase the materials.

We are aiming to raise £8,000 initially to cover the materials for the first two villages, including tanks, pipes, and a tap for at least 40 households. This will give around 300 people access to clean fresh water for drinking and sanitation.

The increased concentration of Asháninka populations in titled settlements in recent decades has brought benefits, but has also created a new set of challenges. A major challenge is access to clean water for drinking and sanitation.

Colonist settlements, and illegal coca processing, logging and mining have made the Ene River and its main tributaries increasingly polluted and unsafe. Many settled Asháninka communities have no water infrastructure in their villages. Individuals, often women and children, have to walk substantial distances to collect large quantities of water for drinking, cooking and washing.

In response to the problem, the Asháninka decided to develop water infrastructure fed by natural sources, using gravity to deliver fresh water to villages. The system will be designed and constructed by the Asháninka, so that it is self-sufficient, sustainable, and can be maintained by the communities themselves.

Although they have the knowledge, skills and workforce, they do not have the additional resources the project requires. It’s those materials that this initiative aims to provide.

Between 2015 and 2018 we raised funds to contribute to the supply of freshwater for four villages. By 2017 these communities had installed tanks, pipework and fittings. Money was used to purchase the hardware, the Asháninka themselves located suitable water sources, installed the infrastructure and gravity supplied the pressure.

There are substantial health benefits, particularly for children. Water is used for the socially significant beverage, masato, and for cooking and washing. It is humans prime need, and we are proud to help.

We have now been asked to help with the costs of materials to supply freshwater to four more remote villages, and are seeking to raise the funds for at least the first two which need it the most.

In their culture, all voices are heard and everyone in the community will have an opportunity to share their needs and shape the way the project is designed.  

Any additional funds raised will go towards the costs of materials for the other two villages.

Even if we do not reach our target in time, all the money raised will be donated towards this project in summer 2023, and we will seek to continue raising funds.  

About the Asháninka

The Asháninka are one of the largest Indigenous ethno-linguistic groups in the Amazon rainforest. Their ancestral home is deep in la selva central, the central forest of Peru around the Vilcabamba mountains of the Andean Amazon, and now extends to the state of Acre in Brazil.

‘Asháninka’ translates simply as ‘our people’. Their traditional way of life is intrinsically sustainable and egalitarian, based around principles of reciprocity and balance between fellow humans and the natural environment. Their ancestral lands in the Amazon are incredibly biodiverse, illustrating their regenerative relationship with nature over centuries.

Although materially they might appear to have very little, they do not see themselves as living in poverty, or as victims of underdevelopment. They are fiercely independent and proud of their culture.  

Traditionally semi-nomadic, Asháninka settlements usually move every few years to avoid over-extracting local resources or degrading the land. Their subsistence lifestyles are sustainable and regenerative; they cultivate, hunt and gather their food, as well as materials, to skilfully craft almost everything they rely on in their everyday lives.

Today, many communities produce commodity crops to trade for essential items, and to cover the costs of travel for the children to access secondary-level education many miles away.

It is estimated the Asháninka population today numbers between 70,000 and 120,000 in Peru and the west of Brazil. This is a powerful testament to their will to survive and maintain their identity through centuries of colonial oppression, cultural persecution, and displacement from their lands as a result of settlement, conflict, and resource extraction.

About us

Mike Paul has been visiting Asháninka of the Ene river basin in Peru for over four decades, through which he developed close connections with several remote communities.

Always at the request of these communities - and in response to their most pressing needs at the time - Mike, along with his daughters Yasmin, Rozie and Melissa, have been working at a grassroots level to support the livelihoods and agency of Asháninka in the Ene Valley for many years.

We have intentionally kept our efforts small scale and responsive rather than seeking to scale up external intervention. The communities prefer to interact and engage on their terms, in order to retain autonomy and ensure benefits are distributed equitably in accordance with their egalitarian society.

Donations do not support incomes, travel or any other of our costs. We fund our visits ourselves, and visitors are encouraged to form bonds by traditional gift giving. This form of assistance aligns with their reciprocity of exchange. All support is immensely appreciated by the communities. It enables them to continue living in their forest home, and maintain their livelihoods, their natural environment, and their culture.

Photographs are taken and used with permission from the communities on the basis that they will generate support to help address livelihoods challenges.

Photography: Melissa Paul, Mike Paul, Loz Moore & Yasmin Paul 

Video production: Yasmin Paul, Tom Sankey

This project successfully funded on 28th July 2023