On World Water Day, we recognize the importance of water conservation and efficiency efforts. For this reason, Fabretto remains committed to promoting environmentally-friendly practices such as water harvesting. In areas with limited access to water, water harvesting should be an almost compulsory practice. It is for this reason that the  Nourishing the Future Project has been promoting this habit in schools located in the cities of Chinandega, Tipitapa, and Masaya.

Watering the school garden and cleaning bathrooms are just some of the daily chores in these schools, where rainwater collected in tanks connected to special gutters is now being used. The system is known as water harvesting and has come to ease water consumption for students, teachers, and parents in areas where running water is only available for a few hours each day, and in some cases, for only a couple of hours each week.

In this sense, and taking into account all the factors that limit access to water in the schools, Nourishing the Future built eight water harvesting systems for an equal number of schools. These systems are also linked to the national water system, which allows schools to collect potable water when needed.

Thanks to the harvesting of water, now the students from the school outfitted with the new system, no longer have to walk long distances to transfer water from their homes to the schools for their personal consumption. Additionally, the tanks store enough water to be able to irrigate the school gardens daily.

This project also includes workshops that have been developed to promote hand washing in pre-school and primary students. These activities have been facilitated in coordination with the Nica Salud Network through the Blue Bus initiative, which provides a recreational space where children can learn that, in order to avoid illnesses and ailments, there is a right way to wash their hands and that there are important moments of the day when they should practice this hygiene habit.

The Nourishing the Future project is a regional initiative of Cargill’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, in partnership with CARE International. During its second phase and in the particular case of Nicaragua, this project is executed by Fabretto and currently serves 26 education centers located in seven municipalities in the country.