The Oberalp-SALEWA Group: Solidarity from the Alps to the Andes
An adequate supply of clean drinking water, health and hygiene facilities, and renewable energy: thanks to the support of Oberalp-SALEWA, an entire village in the Cochabamba region in Bolivia can look to the future with renewed hope. Based in South Tyrol, the sports equipment manufacturer has financed a pilot project of the South Tyrol Caritas organisation, which will guarantee socio-economic development to several hundred people in the barren Bolivian Andes where families live under the most difficult conditions. Agriculture is the main source of income. However, without proper technical aid and equipment, these families can do little more than feed themselves. In the coming years, SALEWA plans to start a similar project in another village in the region. The local partner will be the Diocesan Caritas of Aiquile with whom the South Tyrolean Caritas has been collaborating for many years.Heiner Schweigkofler and SALEWA Purchasing & Production Manager, Alexandra Letts, have recently returned from a site inspection at the Bolivian village of Elvira, where, in previous years, SALEWA and the Diocesan Caritas of Bolzano-Brixen offered financial aid worth €100,000 for a pilot project on socio-economic development. Together with Caritas Director Heiner Schweigkofler, Ms Letts became acquainted with the progress of the individual project phases.
The village of Elvira is situated at an altitude of 3,000 m above sea level and is surrounded by the barren Bolivian plateau in the region of Cochabamba. 92% of the local population survive on what they can wrest from the barren soil. On average, a normal family does not have more than €500 a year at their disposal. Continuing climate change causes more droughts across the country and infrastructure facilities such as irrigation systems are few. Only 15% of the population living in the vast, sparsely populated highlands has access to clean drinking water. As is the case with the rest of the country, Cochabamba too is almost without social services. The majority of the population has no access to medical care and schooling. Furthermore, there are great distances to travel to the few schools, hospitals and welfare organisations. Almost half of the population can neither read nor write.
SALEWA’s aim is to support these people living in the high mountainous regions. Thanks to the dedication of the employees, a decision was finally taken in favour of Project Elvira in the Andes. This project will be supported directly by the employees of the company.
Living conditions in Elvira have gradually improved in the past five years. As part of Project “Elvira”, water sources have been tapped, and reservoirs and water lines have been built. Today, every household in the village has its own small well and sufficient water for drinking, daily personal hygiene, irrigating crops and for watering the livestock. Each house also has a latrine which is connected to a biological sewage tank. New wood-burning stoves reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ensure efficient consumption of the firewood, which is scarce in the Bolivian Andes. Small-scale photovoltaic units provided to each household ensure an adequate supply of power for daily needs. The newly built school and medical centre are also easily accessible for people from neighbouring villages. A full-time teacher looks after the education of the children, and a doctor is on duty twice a week in the medical centre. Furthermore, since the village has power, evening classes for adults can be held. The newly constructed mill is a boon, especially for the women of Elvira and the surrounding villages. Previously, everyday life for women was tough as they had to grind grain by hand.
According to Caritas Director, Heiner Schweigkofler, “The people of Elvira are grateful and proud. Every single one of them has in recent years participated in the construction of new plants, attended training courses on hygiene, and has learned to maintain the new infrastructure facilities on their own. As a result, Elvira is today, even for national agencies, a role model for development programmes in the highlands”.
Project “Elvira” was born thanks to the efforts of the South Tyrolean sports equipment manufacturer SALEWA. From a total investment of €120,000, the company has contributed €100,000 for the project. Together with SALEWA employees, the management has collected funds for the people of Bolivia and they have made donations of their own. Funding for the project is collected at the company’s annual Christmas party. Each year, a draw is held at the SALEWA Christmas raffle where all employees can bid on gifts that are sent by suppliers for example.
On the one hand, gifts are distributed to all employees and not reserved for specific individuals. On the other hand, the amount collected at the raffle is allocated to two to three social projects, whereby the employees can themselves decide which project will benefit from their contribution. The overall amount collected at the raffle will then be increased ten-fold by the management.
In the last five years, the village of Elvira was one of these social projects. Oberalp-SALEWA plans to use its Christmas campaign for the next five years to provide funding to Lime, a second mountain village in the Andes.
Oberalp-SALEWA primarily focuses on products for alpine sports. “We are more than happy about what we have jointly achieved with Caritas and the people of Bolivia. Elvira is a project that unites development and environmental protection. Thanks to Elvira, there is hope of making life in the mountains easier and protecting the countryside. Families can carry on cultivating their fields and are no longer dependent on the declining rainfall,” emphasises Heiner Oberrauch, President of Oberalp-SALEWA. Together with the South Tyrolean Caritas organisation, he is already planning the next aid project in Bolivia. Plans for the next five years include providing a second village with useful infrastructure.
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