Fundación Magtel collaborates with The Social Water Foundation and Lamaignere Foundation on a project to facilitate access to drinking water to various communities in Colombia

The initiative, which falls within the scope of International Cooperation, seeks to install water filters to eradicate different diseases caused by contaminated water consumption suffered by families

Fundación Magtel, together with  Water Foundation and Lamaignere Foundation, participated in the “Atrato Medio” pilot project in Vereda de Santa María (Colombia). Its aim is to provide water purifying filters to the families of this region and facilitate access to drinking water, as this piece of equipment is capable of eliminating 99.99% of all bacteria, impurities and microplastics that the water may contain.

Fundación Magtel has mainly provided advice on public fundraising and on the organisation and presentation of these projects to private funders. Thanks to the capital acquired, access to safe drinking water has been provided to 48 families which has meant an improvement in the lives of  161 people, including 92 adults, 57 children and 17 babies.

Aligned with the SDGs

Water affects all aspects of development and relates to most of the  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The latest figures show that around 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to safely managed drinking water services, 3.6 billion lack safe sanitation services, and 2.3 billion lack basic hand-washing facilities.

These figures reflect the pressing problem in some parts of the world, which is why cross-border cooperation is needed to share this vital resource, which is essential for the economic well-being of entire regions and for human survival.

InovHumRe Project partners met in Lisbon to provide updates on the results of each partner country in the initiative

The head of International Cooperation Projects at the Fundación Magtel, Rocío Ciero, and the entity’s Project Technician, Ana Roldán, attended the meeting

The Erasmus+ project “KA2- Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices”  enters its final stretch with the sharing of the progress made by the teams of each country, as well as the update of its results in a meeting held in Lisbon (Portugal). The meeting was attended by representatives of universities and NGOs from the five participating countries (Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Colombia and Brazil).

In addition, the research carried out by the partners has been brought together and the complete information for the  book that will gather the final data extracted from the project and will be published in the second half of the year. The document will serve as a basis for future training pathways structured around this methodology of social intervention,  participatory evaluation.

The head of International Cooperation Projects at Fundación Magtel, Rocío Ciero and the Projects Technician of the entity, Ana Roldán have explained the practical application of participatory evaluation, using as an example the emergency humanitarian crisis that resulted from the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.

Secondly, the Foundation’s speakers argued that there is a need to generate several training plans for technicians and workers in the third sector, using participatory evaluation tools, with the aim of implementing this methodology in Spanish NGOs in order to tackle humanitarian response interventions.

In this way, the Spanish team, formed by Fundación Magtel and Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) has made progress in research on humanitarian intervention in Spain and the application of participatory evaluation as an innovative methodology in our country. This work on the development of joint online training actions will be completed in 2023.

The Magtel Foundation partners with Erasmus+ for their KA2 Cooperation for Innovation project

The Magtel Foundation hosted a participatory
evaluation seminar on Tuesday last

Funded by the European Union, the Community
initiative seeks to improve the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian
action

The Magtel
Foundation
is one of
the partners committed to support the
Erasmus+ project “KA2- Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good
Practices”
(Innovation in Humanitarian Response: InovHumRe
2020-1-PT01-KA203-078796). Funded by the European Union, this initiative aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of
humanitarian action
by improving training for students and
professionals within the field. To achieve this, a curricular unit on the assessment of humanitarian aid and the
development of learning tools will be launched.

Since NGOs
with experience in humanitarian response will jointly create the structure and
content of the curricular unit—including the learning tools and textbook—the
results will be based on work in the field and geared towards the learning
needs of both students and humanitarian professionals, i.e., NGOs.

The
partnership between universities and non-governmental organisations working to
promote the social inclusion of refugees and migrants ensures the involvement of stakeholders in the
development of materials.
This will have an impact on the
requirements for successful inclusion of a group that faces serious risk of
segregation and discrimination.

The participatory evaluation seminar was
hosted by the Magtel Foundation
at their Cordoba headquarters last Tuesday. This activity was organised within
the framework of the Erasmus+ project (KA2) and featured Rocío Ciero, the
coordinator of the seminar and the foundation’s project technician, as a
speaker. Antonio Lopez Pelaez, professor of Social Work and Social Services at
UNED (Spanish National University of Distance Education), presented the project
alongside Ciero, and together they outlined
the different NGO experiences in participatory evaluation.

This seminar,
along with the session organised for Thursday this week, serves as a working
session for the Spanish team and Spanish social organisations, allowing them to
“test the water” and establish a direct conversation with NGOs working in the
field of emergency humanitarian aid and/or care for refugees.

Yesterday,
Eduardo Garcia Carmona, a representative of the Prolibertas
Foundation
in Cordoba; Santiago Gonzalez Avión, director of the Asociación
Diversidades [Diversity Association], and Alvaro Morcillo Soto, general
coordinator of the Asociación de Apoyo al Pueblo Sirio [Association for Support to the
Syrian People (AAPS), contributed their views and experiences to the
participatory evaluation.

Tomorrow,
Thursday 16 September, Raquel Pelta, lecturer in design research and history at
the University of Barcelona, will also appear. She will focus on participatory evaluation from the
perspective of co-design.
Francisco Javier Garcia Castilla, lecturer
in Social Work at the National University of Distance Education (UNED), and
Angel de Juanas Oliva, lecturer in the Department of Education Theory and
Social Pedagogy within the Faculty of Education at UNED, will also explore
online methodologies for participatory evaluation.

To finish
off, there will be a round table discussion in which the contributions to the
project, from the Spanish experience, will be shared by the whole team.

The
seminars held in Cordoba on 14 and 16 September were made possible thanks to
the participation of 3 Spanish NGDOs. The
results of these discussions will be presented to other European project
partners in Ankara (Turkey) on 22 September
by the
representatives of Turkey, Portugal, Colombia and Brazil.

The Magtel Foundation fosters eco-friendly agriculture among the Cedropampa (Peru) community to boost its socioeconomic development

The project’s goal is to increase the income of 50 families by expanding agricultural production and subsequently selling the products

 

The Magtel Foundation is working on a project to improve water management and to increase agricultural production in Peru’s Cedropampa community. The aim of this initiative is to raise the income of 50 families in the community, currently in extreme poverty, by promoting eco-friendly agriculture and associativism, and improving product commercialization.

The project was launched last December to create a new irrigation system that includes installing an artificial water storage well and building irrigation canals on the communal land. It will also involve working with Cedropampa residents on how to use and maintain this new infrastructure, along with agricultural training.

Additional plans include encouraging locals to plant and restore traditional crops, such as native potato varieties, by using natural compost to improve soil fertility. Thanks to this project, Cedropampa residents will be able to harvest twice yearly as opposed to only once per year.

With this initiative, the Magtel Foundation strives to implement sustainable and environmentally friendly practices that support the socioeconomic development of this community, one of the poorest in the nation. In this sense, the project works on promoting associativismwomen’s empowerment and a stronger commercialization network that will help farmers receive fair prices for their products.

Cedropampa community

This community belongs to the Salcabamba district and is located between the Western and Eastern Ranges of the Andes Mountains, in Peru’s central region. According to the latest census, it is made up of 50 families with limited resources and without access to basic services such as a public water system. However, Cedropampa has a significant amount of water resources and extensive farmland for agriculture.

The project will assist these families, with a special focus on women and girls in light of the discrimination they frequently face. For its execution, the project has a team of professionals who speak Quechua, the residents’ mother tongue, making it easier to communicate and respect the cultural diversity.

Participating entities

The initiative is funded by the Córdoba Provincial Council and backed by the Magtel Foundation, which provides the technical consulting needed to manage and execute the project, along with the experience obtained in similar water cycle management projects. The local counterparts in Peru include the Proyecto Solidario por la Infancia and the Salcabamba municipality as the local partner to which Cedropampa residents belong.

A participatory project

The project’s design has had a strong participatory nature because it resulted from a preliminary analysis performed by the entities involved, in which Cedropampa’s residents expressed their needs and proposed solutions. The main issues it aims to address are the limited resources among families, the minimal involvement of women in the community’s local development and the insufficient access to water for irrigation purposes.

This project is an extension of the work started in 2016 in Cedropampa, also in conjunction with the Córdoba Provincial Council. That project made it possible to create an Irrigation Committee and train 30 mothers. The second phase aimed at improving the irrigation, production and commercialization systems remained pending, although it is currently underway.

 

The Magtel Foundation participates in a project to improve the crop and irrigation systems for the Cedropampa community in Peru

The initiative financed by the Córdoba Provincial Council is the result of a partnership between the Posadas City Government, the Proyecto Solidario por la Infancia – Peru and the Salcabamba municipality.

The Magtel Foundation is participating in a project to improve the crop systems used in Peru’s Cedropampa community. The aim is to provide 15 families with the necessary equipment and training to install a sprinkler irrigation system in their small agricultural operations.

Thanks to this initiative, Cedropampa residents will be able to increase production by harvesting twice yearly as opposed to only once per year. This will enable members to earn more money, thereby lowering the social exclusion levels of this village, one of the poorest in the Andean nation.

The planned actions are aligned with the community’s traditional practices and the Andean world view promoted by the harmonious and positive relationship between nature, humans and Mother Earth. As part of this project, efforts are made to train farmers, use natural compost and restore traditional crops.

Additionally, the “Cedropampa Irrigation Committee” was created by the community’s Quechua women. This community organization is backed by the Salcabamba municipality. Female participants are receiving training and technical assistance on how to manage and maintain the irrigation systems, as well as on the efficient use of water. This strengthens the social and active presence of women in rural areas along with their role in local governance, and it also helps reduce gender inequality.

Cedropampa community

Cedropampa belongs to the Salcabamba district and is located between the Western and Eastern Ranges of the Andes Mountains, in Peru’s central region. According to the 2007 census, this village is made up of approximately 100 families with limited resources and without access to basic services such as a public water system. However, Cedropampa has a significant amount of water resources and extensive farmland for agriculture that require a project of this type to optimize their use.

The project gave priority to 15 indigenous families, with a special focus on women and girls in light of the discrimination they frequently face. Additionally, there was always a team of professionals who speak Quechua, the residents’ mother tongue, making it easier to communicate and respect the cultural diversity.

Participating entities

The project to improve shared water use is the result of efforts by the Posadas City Government and the Magtel Foundation. The local partners in Peru are the Proyecto Solidario por la Infancia and the Salcabamba municipality to which Cedropampa residents belong. Funding is provided by the Córdoba Provincial Council as part of its 2016 call for International Cooperation for Development.

The Magtel Foundation provides the technical consulting needed for the project’s management and execution, along with the experience obtained by its parent company, Magtel, in similar water cycle management projects.

Preliminary analysis

The joint effort of the Spanish and Peruvian entities resulted in a preliminary analysis of the situation. The main issues identified were the limited resources among families, the minimal involvement of women in the community’s local development and the insufficient access to water for irrigation purposes.

Using this analysis, a project was designed that would address these needs, taking into consideration the proposals received from the Salcabamba community, which was actively involved in the project, and from the participating public and private institutions.

The Magtel Foundation and the Peru Solidarity Project train 50 families from Peru’s Cuenca district on what to do in the event of a natural disaster

The results of this project, which is financed by the Seville City Government, were presented at the Cooperation Meeting for Non-Volunteers held in Hogar Virgen de los Reyes

The Magtel Foundation has teamed up with the Peru Solidarity Project to carry out the initiative “Support, prevention and risk mitigation in Andean communities affected by strong rainfall in Cuenca (Peru).” The main goal of this project is to provide 50 families living in extreme poverty with guidelines and basic infrastructures that will enable them to face natural disasters more safely.

The results of this initiative, which is backed and financed by the Seville City Government, were presented at the Cooperation Meeting for Non-Volunteers held in Hogar Virgen de los Reyes. The event was attended by the Director of the Seville City Council’s Cooperation Service, Macarena Smith, and the Project Coordinator, Rocío Ciero.

Aid for more than 180 people

The Cuenca region is frequently affected by high levels of rainfall that cause flooding and landslides with serious consequences for the community. In fact, local homes, small agricultural operations and the nearby school were seriously damaged by a recent Cuenca landslide. This is in addition to the emotional damage to the more than 180 members of these communities. All of these factors contributed towards putting into motion this humanitarian initiative.

To help alleviate the situation, the project focused on two aspects. The first was to teach families techniques for preventing, preparing for and effectively responding to natural disasters with the aim of improving the safety, resilience and sustainability of these communities. This involved psychological therapy and emotional recovery initiatives, particularly for children, following the latest natural disasters in the region. There were also two early response simulations that made it possible to put into practice the knowledge acquired.

The second line of work focused on building infrastructures and utilities that would restore basic living conditions for the families participating in the project. The measures implemented include installing an artificial well that enables locals to store rainwater that can later be used for crop irrigation during periods of drought. Seeds and organic compost have been provided to 50 female heads of household to help restore their agricultural fields, which were seriously damaged and even destroyed by rain.

Other initiatives include building 50 eco-friendly greenhouses (each measuring 86 ft2 / 8 m2) to help families supply their own food and sustain themselves, as well as 50 livestock modules to raise guinea pigs and chickens in stables adapted to the Andean culture.

Cuenca district

The Cuenca community is located in the Huancavelica province, in the heart of Peru’s South-Central Range and approximately 9,840 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level. It has a population of 392 residents, mostly women and children with limited resources. In fact, at least 50% are malnourished and forced to begin working at an early age, resulting in elevated school dropout rates. The main economic activity primarily consists of livestock and subsistence agriculture, which must be restored so families may support themselves.

To carry out the project, 50 Quechua families were selected—for a total of 188 people (49 boys, 41 girls, 48 men and 50 women)—and work was done alongside 10 local authorities and 6 civil defense entities.  Additionally, there was always a team of professionals who speak Quechua, the residents’ mother tongue, making it easier to communicate and respect the cultural diversity.

Encuentro de Cooperación Internacional para no Cooperantes de Fundación Magtel

Participating entities

The “Support, prevention and risk mitigation in Andean communities affected by high rainfall in Cuenca (Peru)” project is the result of a partnership between the Magtel Foundation and the Proyecto Solidario por la Infancia as its local counterpart in Peru, with funding from the Seville City Government (Office of Equality, Youth and Relations with the University Community for Development Cooperation).

The Magtel Foundation provides technical consulting and experience from its parent company, Magtel, which has completed water cycle management projects. For this initiative, in addition to coordinating the project, it has also provided an engineer with experience in technology, geomembranes, wells and greenhouses, who has ensured the correct technical execution.