In October of 2017, CoCoDA held its first Sun and Water Conference in Suchitoto, El Salvador. That conference leveraged nearly $180,000 for four small, rural solar powered water projects serving about 1500 people in Central America. Based on the success of that initiative, CoCoDA had planned another conference in October of 2020. Of course, we hadn’t planned on a pandemic.
That didn’t stop us.
On April, CoCoDA held its second Sun and Water Conference virtually. We had over 70 participants from North America, El Salvador, and Nicaragua participate in two days of virtual video experiences, workshops, presentations, and discussions.
This year’s initiative hopes to raise $150,000 for two larger solar powered systems that will bring affordable, clean water to eleven rural Central American communities and nearly 3000 people.
The Acrasame project in El Salvador will retrofit an electrically powered water system with solar panels, allowing this system to save as much as $5,000 a year in electrical costs.
This will give the ten rural communities in the Acrasame project a much more affordable, secure, and sustainable source of clean water.
The Motuce project in Nicaragua will drill a well and build an entirely new solar powered system for this rural community of 600 people, bringing them clean water and eliminating the 2-3 hours a day that women and children spend obtaining water.
The conference included several compelling videos including a virtual tour of the Zacamil Dos community where CoCoDA collaborated on our first solar powered water system. click here
Or, If you want to take a virtual tour of the Walk of Death, a dangerous journey that the inhabitants of the Aguacayo community had to do to obtain water, click here.
At the end of the conference, conference participants pledged $67,000 of the $150,000 goal with many organizations planning additional pledges in the next month.
If all goes as planned, fundraising will be complete by December of 2021 and construction will commence on these projects in January of 2022.
Gary Hackney, president of the Vincennes, Indiana Rotary club wrote “The conference was powerful and educational to me. I reminded my club of our past involvement with CoCoDA. My goal is to get the Vincennes Rotary back as a partner with CoCoDA.”
If you or an organization, club, or church with which you are connected would like to be part of this exciting initiative, please contact us. We can supply you with videos, project packets, community presentations and two solar powered water system workshops to help promote this initiative.
In the spring of 2022, we will be taking donors and supporters to Central America to see and celebrate the inauguration of these exciting projects.
For a greater understanding of how you impact the lives of communities with your donation through CoCoDA, click here.
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