Lara@Suriname #1
Hi! My name is Lara, I work for Waternet as a project leader and since March this year I've been involved with the Makandra project for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Suriname. I am writing this as I am sitting at the airport of Paramaribo ready to return back home; I've spent the past week in Suriname with three colleagues from Waternet and Rijkswaterstaat.
The goal of the project is to strengthen the team that works on IWRM at the Ministry of Natural Resources (NH). This visit we mainly worked on an issue and stakeholder analysis, with a case study for the Sarakreek area within the Brokopondo district.
How we started
We arrived here Monday afternoon, so we used the rest of the day to get settled in at the hotel as we grappled with the Surinamese heat for the first time. On Tuesday the real workweek started with a morning visit to the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo, where we provided an update about the project and our plans for the week. The ambassador told us that he holds the topic water close to his heart so he finds all the work being done for clean and safe water in Suriname very important.
My first visit
After this visit, we continued to the Ministry of Natural Resources to kick off the week with our Surinamese colleagues. This is my first time in Suriname, so I was of course very happy to finally meet everyone in real life! We immediately had something to celebrate, because nine of the Surinamese colleagues had completed an online course on water governance and were receiving their certificates. The rest of the day and Wednesday we used to work on an issue and stakeholder analysis for IWRM, with a case study on the Sarakreek region within the Brokopondo district. We did exercises to practice empathizing with other stakeholder groups, to try to understand their interests and the most important water issues for them.
Meet the local people
Thursday and Friday was the absolute highlight of our visit, as we went on a field trip to Sarakreek. Together with our Surinamese colleagues we travelled by bus to Affobakka, from which we continued by boat towards the south of the lake. Although these wooden boats looked modest, they were clearly able to transport whatever was necessary; we even saw a disassembled excavator being loaded onto another boat! After a boat ride under the merciless hot sun we arrived at our destination, our wonderful accommodation on Bongonie Island. From there we visited the villages Lebidoti and Baku, where we saw a drinking water installation, including the point of intake in the lake, pump, treatment installation and public tap points. But, of course, the most important thing here was to speak with the locals and different stakeholder groups in the village, to hear which water related issues are most pressing to them. I spoke to a group of women united in the women’s organization of the village. Among other things, they told me that they are often worried about the quality of the drinking water and for that reason they also collect rain water to use instead of tap water. It is very interesting to hear local people’s perception, especially since they do not always match the perception of the NH employees from Paramaribo. Somewhat similar to the Netherlands, there is not just a geographical but also a figurative distance between the big city and rural areas.
Improvement in Suriname
After this wonderful, but intense (hot!) visit to Sarakreek we used the weekend to relax. Yesterday we reflected with the NH employees on the visit and noticed that for some of them it really had been eye opening. Previously, they had not realised how people in Sarakreek view certain things. Now that we had more information, we tried to identify quick wins, such as better ways to communicate with locals and inform them about the water quality. It is exciting to see that although there are many complicated challenges surrounding IWRM in Suriname, there are achievable ways to improve certain issues. Today is the last day of our trip, and we started it with a meeting of the Water Platform, a group of representatives from different ministries who all have an interest in water in some way. They are important stakeholders for IWRM in Suriname, so we asked them for their participation in the project in the coming period. And just as we started the week, we ended it in a festive manner, because it happens to be my birthday today!
My birthday
My colleagues arranged a birthday cake for me, which according to Surinamese customs had to be pushed in my face… Now my face is cream-free again and we are ready to go home. In the coming months we will process the results of this visit and prepare for the next, to take IWRM in Suriname another step further.