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SANBASUR to adapt to the cultural differences

Visit of a project of bilateral co-operation Suisse - Peru

To adapt to the cultural differences.

SANBASUR is occupied of medical basic in the South of the Peruvian Sierra. For SANBASUR as for much of organization the durable equipment of services medical at the rural communities is an activity which implies a whole of social factors, technical and cultural.
Since 1996 SANBASUR made studies which made it possible to better know the problems of medical rural, the characteristics and the idiosyncrasy of the local culture, starting point necessary to set up a durable project.

This is why SANBASUR states to devote more than 30% of its budget to its social department.
At the time of the process of installation of the system of water and medical, a guide shares during nearly 1 year the life of the community.
The month preceding work, the guide passes in all the houses to personally explain to each family the exact course of the project and especially what they will have to provide in personal implication.
During the four months of work, the engineer of SANBASUR coordinates the activities which are carried out with the families. The guide, as for him, continues his work of mediation and sensitizing near the population.
Begin then a long period of formation which will last 6 months.
During this period all the village attends the course which takes place early the morning (between 6h and 8h).
The renewal of the 6 volunteers of the JASS (board of management of the system of medical), elected for 2 years, thus does not pose problems, because all the village received the formation and all are qualified to take the changing.
The formation is divided into 9 modules, for each one of them, SANBASUR created a very picturesque didactic handbook.
When we saw these handbooks, we were surprised by the realism of the drawings, which represented characters vêtus with the European one. Was our first question to certainly require of them "which could be the impact of such drawings well on an Andean population mainly Indian, not being thus identified of these drawings?"
To our great surprise, Jorge Huaman Luna, the engineer who accompanied us during our day by visit, left us another play handbook dedicated to the zone of the high Andes.
It showed us in a more precise way the drawings while pointing out to us that the first play was intended for the populations of the tropical forest (Be-Peru) with woodland landscapes and European clothes. Whereas on the second play, the drawings took again the traditional costumes as well as the Andean landscapes in which evolve/move the target populations.
"It is an adaptation which we were obliged to bring to our handbooks. Indeed, the populations target are often illiterate, the impact of the drawings is thus strong and the populations were not identified with the character of the handbook. All these small details are expensive to us, but they are necessary to allow an appropriation of the project by each village ".

To pay a royalty and to pay an infrastructure.

We made the turn of the village of Pampachulla with engineer Jorge and a member of the JASS, we thus could question the villagers on their perception of the project.
They included/understood all that the drinking water system which was installed is practical and useful for their health.
One understands by water system, a tap made up of one sink outside the house, of the latrines which they must build themselves in adobe (cob) as well as the pit skeptic. SANBASUR takes responsibility for its with the commune the basin and the drains of arrival and drainage.
Some inhabitants of the village, who do not have to them latrines/douche yet, came to ask us money and for materials to build it.
In the same way when we evoked the subject of the invoicing of water, the point seemed badly included/understood by the population.
Water should not be paying. However, as us the engineer explains it, when electricity arrived, everyone agreed to pay without discussing the note... Today it pays mensuellement10 time the price of water and that without any complaint. It adds, "it is as without discussion besides as one crosses to them in the event of unpaid". But it is not very dissuasive, because the inhabitants turn over as to good old days to the river without worrying owing to the fact that water was cut on their premises.
While leaving the village, we had the impression that the drinking water was a luxury. The water of the brook (nondrinkable) remains an easy solution for these populations which always made like thus.
In the same way for the latrines and the showers, to invest the little of incomes of the hearth for that is a luxury especially when it is a need brought by people of the city.

However the value of water took all its direction and mentalities knew to adapt quickly. Many peasants make indeed record with the commune the sources of mountain in order to be able one day to sell a right of access to water, as already certain communes do it has which it town of Oruro (close to Pampachulla) buys water...

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Photographs


The pit closed by tree trunks must be moved when it is full (every year on average).


Interior of the latrines whose building is in adobe. The shower made up of a simple pipe is in the same room.



Difficult to include/understand the interest of the latrines in such a landscape and with such a space.



A part of the JAS making us visit one of the tanks it is as here as they add chlorine.

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