The origin story of the Wayuu People is linked to the sacred place (Wuimpumuin) from which all families (E'irukuu) come, and whose sacred word has the root of "wuin," which is interpreted as "water," and "pumuin," which is the direction in which water abounds.
But the change of life and the transformation of the territory moved the Wayuu to regions where water is scarce and sought, especially, by women and children who leave their rancherias at dawn, traveling extensive kilometers to provide for their subsistence.
Despite this, the strength and resilience of this People has allowed them to take advantage of the opportunities generated by the sun and wind on Wayuu soil, and with these, for water to flow to generate life, health, nutrition, and progress for the communities.
This is the case of the Orokot community, where Wayuu women have transformed their territory around water. One of these leaders is Aleida Tiller, a resilient and persistent Wayuu woman from the E'irukuu Uriana, who enthusiastically recounts how life has been transformed for her territory with the Public Water Tanks, which have allowed them to organize to ensure their sustainability.
"It brings happiness that the response to health services when they call women to find out why they have not returned to the doctor is: water is everything, with clean water we no longer get sick" says Aleida, proudly displaying the achievements they have had and the well-being that her people now enjoy.
Aleida leads the Wuin Anasu Corporation (Water for Well-being), a community organization made up of 84 communities of the Wayuu people of the Municipality of Maicao, in La Guajira, which was formed four years ago and today has more than 2,400 users of these Public Water Tanks, to access drinking water.
Aleida Tiller, a resilient and persistent Wayuu woman from the E'irukuu Uriana
These Life and Health Centers, as they are recognized by the Wayuu, operate from Monday to Saturday, are operated by community members, and benefit about 7,800 inhabitants.
Aleida attributes the economic and social sustainability of the Public Water Tanks to their alignment with Wayuu water culture, community participation, and women's leadership.
"The Public Water Tanks were born with the support of the national government, the Swiss government, and companies like ISA Inter Colombia, but it was our job to keep them active, for which awareness with the mayors and territorial entities has been required -which contribute 48% of the resources for maintenance-, a subsidy with which we have been able to maintain ourselves" she adds.
Today, the case of Orokot demonstrates the importance of inter-institutional articulation, public-private partnerships, and community management, being a reference for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in their co-design process of the Scalable and Sustainable Model of Energy Communities for human development, WASH, and rural development in La Guajira.
Along with this experience, the Wayuu communities of Ishashima'ana, Yutaho, Masamana, and Katanamana have also joined this joint programme, which has been supported by the intercultural dialogue strategy, which UNDP has been promoting for 5 years, and which is essential for territorial development.
With the alliance between UNDP and FAO, and with the support of the Joint SDG Fund, the sustainability of energy solutions that provide access to drinking water and sustainable food production is promoted as a fundamental pillar for development and territorial governance.
"This alliance integrates fundamental aspects for development, health, and life: water, energy, and food. Drawing on community experience and collaborative partnerships, we aim to improve the Wayuu population's quality of life through an inclusive community approach," explains Blanca Cardona, Manager of the Democratic Governance Area of UNDP in Colombia.
"The communities have shown the value of their ancestral knowledge, it is a key basis for the development of this sustainability model around access to water, food production, and energy communities. We seek a permanent dialogue to build mechanisms that are much more sustainable for the territory" adds Marcos Rodríguez, Senior Specialist of the Family Agriculture and Inclusive Markets Area of FAO in Colombia.
Note:
All joint programmes of the Joint SDG Fund are led by UN Resident Coordinators and implemented by the agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations development system. With sincere appreciation for the contributions from the European Union and Governments of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and our private sector funding partners, for a transformative movement towards achieving the SDGs by 2030.
