One of the primary and indispensable needs for living beings, being at the same time a universal right for human beings, is access and physical availability to water. Water is a necessary resource to carry out human activities.

Resource extraction, deforestation, pollution from discharges of chemical substances, solid waste or fecal material, the effects of climate change that lead to an increase in temperature produce irreversible loss of biodiversity and pollution of rivers.

Contaminated water is a vehicle for transmitting diseases because it may contain pathogenic microorganisms or chemical substances that, when ingested, cause damage to the body. The presence of bacteria, parasites and toxic waste in water for human use and consumption causes diseases such as cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid fever. (According to the WHO, 88% of diarrheal diseases are the result of an unsafe water supply and poor sanitation and hygiene.)

For more than 50 years, oil exploration and exploitation activities have contaminated water sources. Populations in rural areas, mostly indigenous, do not have access to safe water for  human consumption; This causes diseases, including increased mortality, cancer and chronic childhood malnutrition. Since the Amazonian indigenous population is dispersed in small hamlets of between 5 and 15 families in remote places with only river access these groups are the last priority for municipalities in terms of the provision of services such as water.

The objective of Fundación Raíz Ecuador is to promote the conservation of the environment and the Siekopai culture. There has been a commitment for many years with the Amazonian indigenous peoples, and especially with the Siekopai people.

That is why Fundación Raíz Ecuador considers it necessary to guarantee access to safe water for human consumption We are executing a pilot project focused on providing safe water for 9 Siekopai communities located along the Aguarico River basin in the Shushufindi canton, Sucumbíos, in the Amazon.