Home  I  Who We Are  I  What We Do  I  Where We Work  I  News   I  Projects   I  Contact Us   I  Donate Now   

A house by the lake

Living on an island in Lake Nicaragua just off the shore of Granada is an idyllic prospect which is attracting developers and investors to buy up hundreds of beautiful islands surrounding the Asese peninsula in the north-west corner of the lake.  The development of hotels and holiday homes are causing local people who have lived on these islands for generations to lose their land.  Many of the dispossessed families have ended up in the slums of Granada, losing not only their land, but also their livelihoods.  The UK-based charity, SIFT (Seed International Fund Trust), bought 37 acres of land on the Asese Peninsula in 2004 where they plan to develop a new community for these displaced families, preserving their livelihoods on the shores of the lake. 

Nuevas Esperanzas became involved in this project in 2006.  Many of the displaced islanders are fishermen and the land purchased was chosen to give the maximum possible access to the shore of the lake.  This location brings some complications, however, and issues such as flood risk, environmental impact on marginal wetland habitats and the high water table under the site must all be addressed satisfactorily if the project is to go ahead. In view of Nuevas Esperanzas’ experience of the housing project at La Palmerita and its capacity in technical areas such as engineering and environmental management, SIFT requested the help of Nuevas Esperanzas in the design of water and sanitation systems and the environmental impact assessment of the proposed community development project.

Nuevas Esperanzas has undertaken technical work on several aspects of the project, including a site investigation, hydrogeological evaluation to assess the feasibility of a water supply and its potential environmental impact, a hydraulic design for a borehole, water tank and gravity-fed distribution system, an assessment of potential latrine designs, stormwater drainage design, and calculations for proposed earth moving and landscaping of the site.  Nuevas Esperanzas has also provided assistance with legal aspects of the project and liaison with government agencies.

Nuevas Esperanzas is continuing to offer technical support to SIFT on this project.  You can read more about SIFT’s work on the Asese peninsula on their website www.seed-trust.com.