Save the Children Nicaragua is carrying out a project in the in Alamikamba, the capital of the municipality of Prinzapolka, one of the eight municipalities of the North Atlantic Region (RAAN), near the Caribbean coast. The river runs through the town Prinzapolka and the communities have traditionally built their house around this. Due to heavy rains during July, the river overflowed and most of the houses and crops have been affected.

Save the Children is working in emergency response through a project that covers two aspects: food security and water and sanitation. We are distributing food to 490 families in 10 communities. Our organization is trying to meet the food needs of families who have suffered crop losses after rains. We are also working on cleaning wells in these communities, because the river water is contaminated. Moreover, in this county, we are also working with DIPECHO in the creation and maintenance of a stock of non-food items for emergencies.

Our funds for this project come from Save the Children Norway and the UK. We chose these 10 communities because we work with them with development projects and we feel responsibility to meet their needs. However, there are more communities affected by these rains that are in the same situation.

The answer is being as fast as possible but access to this area is very complicated, because the roads to Prinzapolka are in very poor condition and communities are accessible only with boats on the river.

On Monday 12^th, we started with the distribution and we finish today. We have covered 490 families of 6 people each (on average). They have received food packs directly with: 14 pounds of rice, 7 of beans, 11 of sugar, 4 salt, 2 liters of oil, 14 pounds of a nutritional compound cereal. Moreover, the problem with crops is that these are purely for subsistence. Therefore, it is easy to lose all production since it is not customary to plant more than it is necessary to feed the family. We will spend more than $ 16,000 for food and distribution for this quick response, but the most expensive is the distribution. However, we have the help of another organization working in this area for years, Christian Medical Action –Acción Médica Cristiana-. 

The problem with the water: we did a study in more than 15 wells in each community, which get water from the river Prinzapolka. The results were that all the water is contaminated after the overflowing of the river, because the water of the latrines and wells are in the same level. We have two water and sanitation specialists but we are waiting for a water pump to clean and chlorinate the wells. This must be done in every community.

The DIPECHO project: it started in 2010 to create a stock in the town hall with  non-food items (buckets, food containers, blankets, etc.). The objective was to respond as quickly as possible, because access to the communities is very complicated and heavy rains are cyclical. Part of this stock has already been used, but thanks to the help of Save the Children Italy, we are recovering the humanitarian aid reserve.

One of the advantages that has SC is that we already have offices in Prinzapolka and Siuna, as well as transport and local counterparts. The language in this region is the "Miskitu", an indigenous language. But thanks to the people who are bilingual in Spanish and Miskitu, we can communicate with people in the communities where we work.

The key threat in this project is mainly the weather, as we are in winter, which is the most intense rainy season, but the climate is constantly changing. But there is also the problem of hygiene practices of these communities: for example, the habit of open defecation; the way to extract the water from the well (and the fact that children are usually those who do it); the routine of using well water for everything (human and animal consumption, to shower, to clean ...); lack of practice of drinking chlorinated water. Furthermore, the fact that almost all the houses are built on the bank of the river, causing great losses each time it grows. However, there are also examples of good hygiene habits, such as always take the shoes off before entering the house.

Save the Children started in Prinzapolka in 2010 with a DIPECHO project and we are in North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) for 13 years. After 2010, Save the Children tries to have more inclusive projects, especially about health promotion and education. We have not had any political or financial scandal, that is why Save the Children is well known and respected in this area.