Carhuaz

History

During a convention of the majors of the province of Carhuaz it was decided upon to evaluate the quality of the Rio Santa, the river running through the Callejon de Huaylas. In coordination with the mountain institute a team was composed to perform this investigation. One of these team members was Albina Ruiz Rios, the founder of Ciudad Saludable. The inadequate management of solid waste was identified as being the biggest contaminator of the Rio Santa. Carhuaz, two years ago. By the lack of a decent waste disposal area, the municipal waste collection service found a convenient disposal place in the nearby river, the Rio Santa. Three days a week a truckload of garbage was dumped into the river, severely polluting the rivers shores and the river itself. The very same river used by the local people to bath in and to wash their clothes in. The water being polluted caused them cholera, diarrhea and other diseases having their roots in bad hygiene.

Albina with her years of experience in solid waste management knew that alternatives were available and necessary. She soon found strong allies in the major of Carhuaz and in a local NGO, Urpichallay. After a series of meetings with the local society's leaders, a plan was developed to attack the environmental problem and to come up with alternative solutions for the management of solid waste. However any such alternative would surpass the financial resources of the Municipality of Carhuaz . Moreover, the efficient implementation of such system would rely heavily on a change of attitude of the local population to the environment and on how to handle their waste, requiring additional financial resources and personnel. Finally, to monitor the construction and implementation of the whole system technical expertise was a necessity, which was far from abundant in this town.

Being a fellow of ASHOKA, a Social Entrepreneur of the Schwab Foundation and leader of AVINA, she had some contacts and she approached the Open Society Institute (OSI) for funding. Additional funding was provided by AVINA in a later stage of the project.

Project Carhuaz was born. In one year of time the living standards in the city and its hygiene were improved dramatically. Local operations were handled by a team of Urpichallay under the supervision of Albina (in year 2 the team was replaced by a team of Ciudad Saludable). Workshops were organized with schools and community centers to enhance environmental awareness and the value of separating their waste (into organics and inorganics). An elaborate study on the management of solid waste, population details, region characteristics and the consistence of waste was performed (PIGARS). A sanitary anvil was constructed. Government officials and employees were trained. Trees were planted at the shore of the Rio Santa to prevent illegal dumping. An educational program was developed to teach university students how solid waste should be managed. And finally, a micro enterprise was formed to separate the garbage, transform organic material into compost y humus, which furthermore also initiated the production of fruit plants, contributing to the sustainability of the project.

During the process of implementing all these activities, Albina felt unsatisfied by the work of her employer and other institutions and started thinking about creating her own NGO to more effectively deal with projects such as the Carhuaz project. She approached a close acquaintance, Jose Carlos (organizational psychologist) and other colleagues and discussed this idea. The idea was developed further and gave rise to the establishment of Ciudad Saludable as we know it today.