La Muralla is a small village of roughly 125 inhabitants. It sits hidden in a valley 40 minutes walk up hill from the road that runs through the Cangrejal valley. It is one of the poorest communities in this area. Every household depends upon what it can grow and some survive on an annual harvest worth only US$44. This must feed, clothe and educate their entire family. In some houses up to 15 people share two rooms. Only two people in the entire village have a 6th grade education. No one goes to high school. In fact, their list of needs is lengthy, but as they are hidden away, there is little outside support for them.

In September 2003 on-site facilitator Kate Venner made her first visit to the community of La Muralla, to talk to them about their water. More children from La Muralla are brought to the health center with stomach complaints — parasites, diarrhea — and we hoped to help them work toward a solution to this problem. She had the water tested by a water engineer and it showed very high amounts of fecal coliforms, which come from animal or human feces. As with all Un Mundo projects, we rely on donations, and therefore Kate could not promise them money. However, after a number of community meetings where she spoke to the community about their water — what they thought about it and what they wanted to do — she was offered a small donation from the Bridport Rotary Club, Bridport, UK. The community had decided that they would prefer to concentrate on a latrine project.

With the Rotary donation Kate and the community decided to build a latrine for the primary school and in this way get the most benefit from the donation. So the community built the latrine while we provided the materials and in July 2004 we were proud to announce the inauguration of the latrine and water pipe, both intended to keep the children of La Muralla cleaner, healthier and happier. A great example of a lot being done with little.