Wüin-Wayaa: "We are water"

From the Wayuuda Foundation we have had as a social objective the improvement of the quality of life of vulnerable communities, and especially the Wayúu indigenous community, whose existence has been marked by high rates of malnutrition, lack of drinking water, illiteracy, etc. Factors that seriously threaten its extinction. To solve these problems, we have implemented automated systems for water supply, production projects based on agriculture, manufacturing processes for handicrafts, ethnotourism and the creation of a pilot ethno-educational institution benefiting more than 500 boys and girls; All this, as part of the social laboratory whose pillars are: the promotion of culture and the generation of social fabric focused on the search for self-sustainability, since we urge students from public and private universities in the interior of the country to develop their final projects guiding by the Sustainable Development Goals and providing bilateral access to knowledge and research.

Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, second coffee exporter and holder of great part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, but all this is colored by its history stained with poverty, war and forced displacement where indigenous peoples (who represent the 3 , 4% of the total national population) have been the most vulnerable. The Wayúu indigenous community settled in the department of La Guajira is not spared and the inclement weather, poor access to drinking water (according to the UNDP, a Wayúu indigenous man consumes approximately 0.7 L of untreated water per day) and the highest figure of infant mortality due to malnutrition in the country, while the national index is 2 children per 100,000, that of La Guajira is 20. In the department, the gap in relation to the national education indicator is considerable, with an illiteracy rate of 37.4% accessibility to training processes becomes one of the most important challenges for the government. On the opposite side are the almost 480,000 young people who on average obtain a university degree in the country's universities, whose requirement to complete their studies is the application of final projects, often without a social purpose.

The Wayuus are the indigenous people with the largest number of members in both Colombia (department of La Guajira) and Venezuela (state of Zulias), both located in the northern part of these South American countries. It is estimated that the Wayúu culture is made up of 600,000 members, represented in 45% of the Guajira population and 11% of the Zulia population. Of this group, 97% speak Wayuunaiki, their native language, while 32% speak Spanish. The Wayúu culture is very famous for its fabrics in different types of products such as chinchorros, backpacks, clothing in general and handcuffs, which are highly recognized not only for their strong colors, but also for the thickness of their threads.

More than 3,000 Wayúu indigenous people have benefited from this project, whose living conditions are quite precarious and their flow of money per capita is less than USD 30 per month.

The implementation of an Automated Pumping System that uses solar panels as an unconventional source of energy, which provides approximately 4000 L of water per day, providing safe and totally autonomous access to water for the Wayúu indigenous community of Alakat (Maicao, La Guajira- Colombia) whose population amounts to 400 inhabitants. The design and installation of the system was carried out by the community, who played a fundamental role in the structuring and construction of the artesian well, approximately 17 meters deep and 2 meters in diameter, entirely by hand, over a period of 4 months. ; in this way, a social fabric is fostered between ancestral knowledge and the latest generation technological processes as an innovative proposal. The administration and maintenance is managed by trained personnel from the same empowered community, who were given a manual in Spanish-Wayuunaiki (their native language).

The social fabric created between the ancestral knowledge of the members of the community in the location and construction of artesian wells and the latest generation technological processes associated with the undergraduate and postgraduate projects of the universities of the territory, allows achieving the goals proposed in a way bilateral to the entities involved. Likewise, use was made of materials available in the region in order not to negatively impact the landscape. By directly involving community members in the construction of the artesian well and in the installation of all the subsystems that make up the prototype, it is possible to carry out a knowledge transfer through training and empowering its administrators, who were given a manual in Spanish-Wayuunaiki (their native language), solving the current problem involving ignorance of the technologies installed in their localities in the absence of prior advice on their use, these being reduced to scrap metal due to poor administration or lack of maintenance.

Currently, there are methodologies implemented by public and private organizations that extract and supply water to indigenous communities, but in many cases, the inhabitants are not provided with the respective advice on the proper use and preventive and corrective maintenance that must be done at subsystems. With the solution provided, not only is the community integrated into the good practices of system administration, but each of the inhabitants is made to participate in the construction and identification of the elements and components with manuals in the same language. In turn, having a continuous water supply, opens the opportunity to generate a sustainable economy from subsequent productive projects. The holistic design of the Automated Solar Pumping System represents a great decrease in costs of almost 40% compared to the solutions proposed in the state of the art, of this type, since the appropriate selection of instrumentation, the use of the efficient solar brightness of the Guajira peninsula and the integration of the skilled workforce of the same indigenous community , become a critical factor when formalizing a budget.

So far we have benefited more than 3,000 people from the indigenous communities of the peninsula of La Guajira, nationals and foreigners (Venezuelans), people who have reintegrated after being in the armed conflict which has faced this country for more than 50 years. By 2021 we plan to be benefiting more than 5000 people, because by 2023 we plan to incorporate at least 10 water pumping solutions with their respective production modules. In 5 years since the Wayuuda Foundation we have planned to cover two nations in a common region and benefit more than 10,000 people with the different comprehensive projects, providing continuous, autonomous and safe access to water resources.

Currently the first success case and the pilot plan that we have structured has been entirely financed by the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga, likewise we have managed to seek financing from the private sector and in a second installation of an SBSA for another Wayúu community (Majayütpana), we managed to get this donation from the American company Stanley Black & Decker. With the aim of achieving an ecosystem based on self-sustainability in the Wayúu indigenous communities, once the SBSA has been implemented, the recovery of agricultural spaces is proposed, which only have a place in the rainy season, a factor that is totally random at present due to the imminent climate change, adding the lack of knowledge transfer from past generations to new ones on traditional agricultural methodologies. As there is a continuous supply of water, it is proposed to implement novel irrigation systems, as well as automated methodologies for livestock and reforestation; In parallel, by improving the quality of life, training has been provided in the implementation of quality management systems for the manufacture of handicrafts (main labor niche) with a view to commercialization without outsourcing, a problem that reduces total profit.

The work we have carried out with Traditional Leaders of the different indigenous councils has strengthened our capacity for rapprochement based on trust and fair treatment, since we are inclined to generate knowledge bilaterally as long as thoughts, culture and customs. The biggest challenges I have had as a leader I describe around the acceptance of the introduction of new technological processes that will somehow improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the region, so it is vital to empower each member of the community in the construction of the different projects, since their role will be the cornerstone that determines their viability over time and thus preserve and promote culture.

Empowering the community in the process of administration, operation and maintenance of the Automated Solar Pumping System and subsequent productive projects. From the process of socialization with the communities, the idea is raised that members be an active part in the construction of solutions and the generation of labor niches that allow a flow of money to ensure a fund for preventive and corrective maintenance of elements that make up the projects.

The main motivation lies in the sense of belonging that we have regarding the preservation of culture and support for those most in need, which is how in 2016 we created the Wayuuda Foundation, which has as its corporate objective the improvement in the quality of life of the communities in a vulnerable situation, working under the guidelines of the Sustainable Development Goals to eradicate poverty and protect the environment, as well as guaranteeing peace and prosperity. These problems have been attacked from scenarios such as the implementation of automated systems for water supply, productive projects from agriculture and livestock, technification of crafts manufacturing processes, ethnotourism, construction of sustainable environments and the constitution of the Majayütpana educational institution in the municipality of Uribia, where ethnoeducation and food are provided to more than 100 children and adolescents, as well as care for nursing mothers, thus benefiting more than 3,000 people in the different communities of the national territory.

The Wayuuda Foundation team is made up of ordinary people: students, professionals, employees, the unemployed, etc. In general agents of change between 20 and 60 years. The main team is made up of 5 people in legal association. The team of volunteers is around 300 people.

The indicators of success on which this project is based are the rate of improvement of the quality of life of the Wayúu community in issues of accessibility to the water resource and decrease in the physical effort to extract it from the deep well. Responsibly, the community has been empowered to achieve a distribution by family of the resource, encouraging subsequent projects on issues of agriculture, livestock, forestry, handicraft manufacturing, and environmental preservation. In turn, the academy has managed to encourage more students and teachers to integrate their classroom and grade projects to benefit vulnerable communities. From the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga, 3 degree projects are being worked on, in addition to the 3 projects already developed which cover topics such as desalination and purification for supply, evaluation of energy requirements by family, aquaponics, etc.

Higher education institutions such as the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga, the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Bucaramanga, the University of La Guajira, etc. They provide us academic support in the development of the different projects. Companies such as Stanley Black & Decker, Intecmo S.A., IES Ingeniería, etc. They give us support in the materialization and installation of the proposed solutions, as well as the joint work with the more than 300 volunteers who over time have been linked to the different projects from their area of professionalization.

In an initial stage, the location in which the well will be constructed in an artisanal way is determined, supported by geoelectric studies of vertical electric soundings. In the next stage, the design of the system will be made depending on the geographical and environmental factors of the area and these will be validated through simulations. The social nature of the project and its human component is decisive in its development, as the community Whoever builds the system and also who administers them, for this, the Wayúu community of around 400 people who will enjoy the benefit of SAPS will be trained in its operation and maintenance. After the SAPS has been installed, water supply surveys will be carried out by family and knowledge components of the project to follow up to ensure its durability. Subsequently, possible work niches that guarantee funds that cover maintenance logistics are analyzed.

In the first case of success, the installation came from the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga. Fact that served to publicize the good name and the transparent execution of the total budget. From there, the window has been opened to continue building solutions in communities with resources from private or public companies that are interested in contributing to a development that will very surely generate income from contiguous productive projects.

In addition to the significant reduction in the implementation costs of the solution in contrast to those already implemented in the Colombian territory, the Automated Solar Pumping System allows associating the different knowledge of the communities regarding the location and construction of artesian wells, a factor key in supplying water to isolated communities with little or no road infrastructure to drive machinery that digs wells.

Governmental and non-governmental organizations that generate added value to the projects developed so far and strategic allies that are interested in the replicability of this type of project in other ecosystems.