In Suriname, 26% of the population lives under the poverty line, according to the World Bank. But out of all the groups who poverty has impacted, as a marginalized group, Suriname’s Indigenous Wayana people face disproportionate effects. The Wayana people are spread across the Northern Amazonian region of Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname. About 800 people of Wayana descent reside in Suriname, according to the Mulokot Foundation page. The Mulokot Foundation aims to support Suriname’s Wayana people and help the country move closer to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through several community projects. One of the organization’s goals is to reduce poverty by improving access to water for Suriname’s Indigenous Wayana people.

The Mulokot Foundation

Paramount Chief of the Wayana community, Ipomadi Pelenapin established the Mulokot Foundation in April 2018. The foundation’s website highlights its goals: “…to bring sustainable development to the Wayana community by capacity building, developing management skills, managing projects in the community, providing training, and advocacy.” The Mulokot Foundation serves all of the nine Wayana villages in Suriname.

The Mulokot Foundation explains the situation regarding water on its website. “Villagers from Indigenous communities are mostly dependent on rainwater and the use of water from the nearby rivers. The use of river water is accompanied by serious health hazards. In Suriname, approximately 60,000 kilograms of mercury enters the environment every year. Mercury is a highly toxic metal that is used by thousands of gold miners who operate in large parts of the country.” The mercury and other toxic contaminants end up in the waters of creeks and rivers, posing extreme health risks to those who ingest the water.

Water Support

In Kawemhaken, an area at the border of Suriname and French Guiana, the Wayana people have to claim water from a nearby creek and often unprotected sources of water. During hot seasons, when the creek dries up, the Wayana end up having to take water from the river; another unprotected and unclean water source. The inaccessibility to clean, filtered water poses not only as a health risk by consumption but also by the utilization of it for sanitation purposes.

Furthermore, as illegal gold mining industries set up camp among these water sources, these sources become contaminated with mercury at an unprecedented rate. Mercury, which is tasteless and odorless, poses an extreme health risk among the Wayana population. When left potentially untreated, it has a deadly effect. In 2007, when American researchers came to test the adverse effects of the water source on the Wayana people, 58% of hair samples had mercury levels above the World Health Organization (WHO) safety limit.

Achievements

According to the WHO, every individual needs at least 50-100 liters per day for basic hygiene and sanitation needs. As water quality is declining in their region and the indigenous have to utilize untreated water for their use, the Mulokot Foundation, with support from the Caribbean Development Bank, started a project to increase clean water access for the Wayana people. The project targets all nine Wayana villages.

The project relies on a water purification system that uses Bio Active Carbon and solar pumps for water extraction and distribution. Once filtration is complete, the water travels to a “central water tower in order to gain a certain pressure so that the entire village can access the purified water.”

The running of the project is a collaboration between the Mulokot Foundation and the Basic Needs Trust Fund of the Surinamese Ministry of Finance and Planning. The introduction of the system in the first pilot village occurred at the close of 2022.

Mulokot’s Persistence

The Mulokot Foundation’s development in facilitating clean, filtered water directly to the households of the Wayana people is indeed a remarkable achievement. However, as Suriname has been plagued by illegal gold mining, mercury continues to permeate through the waters that the Wayana people use for consumption. The Mulokot Foundation’s resources are limited and untreated, the Wayana are still utilizing unfiltered water. However, as Mulokot has expanded its goals, so has the number of ongoing projects regarding capacity building. It is still safe to say that the impact of The Mulokot Foundation has indeed bettered the life of the Wayana.

– Aswath Jaiprakash
Photo: Flickr