Dispatches from the Field & Project Summaries
Project Summary: Potters for Peace, Nicaragua
June 4, 2010
Pottery may seem like an unlikely vehicle for sustainable development, but through the efforts of Potters for Peace (PFP), thousands of people in Nicaragua and beyond now have the possibility of a better life.
Founded in 1986 as a demonstration of solidarity with the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, Potters for Peace sees itself as a social justice organization. Its original goal was to help Nicaraguan women potters develop their products and marketing in order to improve the lives of their families. After Hurricane Mitch devastated Nicaragua in 1998, PFP developed a second phase of operations: producing a ceramic water filter to address the desperate shortage of clean drinking water. The filter is both quick and inexpensive to produce, providing an affordable water purification system to Nicaraguans of all economic levels.
Produced in a factory on the outskirts of Managua, PFP filters are made from porous clay with a coating of silver. The first step in the process is to mix finely milled clay with sawdust and water, and then press the mixture into a mold. After drying, the filter is fired in a kiln, which burns away the sawdust, leaving miniscule pores for the water to flow through. Next, the filters are soaked in water and tested for flow rate. The final step is to apply a thin coating of silver to kill any bacteria that get through the pores in the filter itself. To use the filters, consumers simply place them inside five-gallon (seven-liter) plastic buckets, which are cheap and easy to buy worldwide.
PFP filters remove 99.98 percent of bacteria, parasites, and turbidity, making them extremely effective in providing potable water at the household level. In fact, the simple and economical design has earned praise from both the U.S. Center for Disease Control and the United Nations. In keeping with PFP’s mission of bringing clean drinking water to as many people as possible, the entire process is open-source technology, available on the organization’s website.
Although PFP no longer operates filter-making facilities directly, the organization continues to provide training in order to enable others to establish factories around the world. Since the beginning of the filter project PFP has facilitated the establishment of 33 filter-making facilities in 25 countries (as of March 2010).
In the artisan pottery program, PFP provides technical and marketing assistance and facilitates interchanges that help potters learn from each other and broaden their perspective in order to further develop their work. One of the organizations that PFP supports is the Ducuale Grande women’s pottery cooperative in northern Nicaragua. The group was established in 1990 in a community with a tradition of working with clay that has been passed down for generations. The members of the cooperative joined together in an effort to improve their pottery techniques and better their lives. They found an outside teacher who taught them a technique that involves painting designs in mud on unfired ceramics and then firing the items with the mud still on them. After the pieces are removed from the kiln and allowed to cool, the mud is washed off, leaving patterns in lighter colors on the reddish-brown clay. Although the technique originated in Peru, the women of Ducuale Grande have made it their own by adapting it their own traditions and creating new designs.
The cooperative has had some stunning success. In the mid-1990s Pier 1 Imports placed an order for more than 18,000 pieces with the Ducuale Grande group. With six months to produce the pieces, the group contracted with 60 other potters and organized in a very professional manner, and succeeded in meeting the deadline. The group now sells its pottery throughout Nicaragua and overseas. Despite these accomplishments, however, the group is struggling with a number of issues, including facilities, marketing, and a steep drop in sales as a result of the global economic problems. PFP continues to work with the cooperative to help the women continue to develop their skills and improve their marketing efforts.
At the same time Potters for Peace is still reeling after its own loss. For 20 years, beginning in the late ’80s, the heart and soul of the organization was Ron Rivera, a potter and humanitarian dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the world’s poor. Sadly, Rivera died in late 2008 after contracting a particularly virulent form of malaria while setting up a filter factory in Nigeria.
Fortunately, PFP’s work did not cease with Rivera’s death. Instead, Robert and Beverly Pillers, an American couple with a long association with Potters for Peace, have taken over the running of the organization. Robert serves as Nicaragua Country Director while Beverly is chairperson of PFP’s board of directors. The Pillers live full-time in Nicaragua and are committed to continuing Rivera’s work.
Central America Expedition 2010: Day 15 – Potters for Peace, Nicaragua
March 31, 2010
After an overnight at a comfortable small hotel in Managua called La Posada de Don Pantaleón, we set off at the crack of dawn in the Potters for Peace truck with Robert and Alvaro, headed for the small community of Ducuale Grande in northern Nicaragua, a four- to five-hour drive from Managua. Rob and Ryan lounged on a mattress in the bed of the truck while John and I opted to ride with inside the truck. The Nicaraguan sun was strong, and I had no desire to look like a tomato when we arrived at our destination.
We stopped for breakfast at a truck stop, then continued up the highway past varying landscapes, from dry plains to green cotton fields to a range of low mountains. We arrived at Ducuale Grande in mid-morning and spent the next five or six hours there filming the work of the potters.
Potters for Peace has been working with artisan potters in Nicaragua since the late 1980s. For 20 years the heart and soul of the organization was Ron Rivera, a potter and humanitarian dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the world’s poor. Sadly, Ron died in 2008 after contracting a particularly virulent form of malaria during a trip to set up a filter factory in Nigeria. Robert and his wife Beverly, the chairperson of PFP’s board of directors, now live full-time in Nicaragua and are dedicated to continuing Ron’s work. The Ducuale Grande cooperative is one of several organizations that PFP supports through technical and marketing assistance, as well as the facilitation of interchanges that help potters learn from each other and widen their view in order to further develop their work.
Vilma Guevara, the coordinator of the Ducuale Grande cooperative, told us that the group was established in 1990 when a group of women got together with the goal of improving their pottery techniques in order to better their lives. The community had a tradition of working with clay that had been passed down from generation to generation. From outside teachers the women learned a pottery technique that originated in Peru, which they have adapted to their own designs and traditions. When we arrived the women were busy painting designs in mud on bowls, pots, vases, and other items. The pots are then fired with the mud still on them. After they cool, the mud is washed off, leaving the patterns in lighter colors on the clay.
After a full day with the women of the cooperative, we headed back to Managua in the late afternoon, stopping for a very late lunch at an organic café just outside Estelí. As we left the café, the light sprinkle that had begun as we left Ducuale Grande turned into a heavy downpour. Poor Ryan and Rob, still riding in the back of the truck, got completely soaked. With the camera gear inside the cab, there was no room for two more people. Even after the rain stopped Rob and Ryan rode most of the way back stoically standing in the bed of the truck, braced against the cab, drying in the wind and avoiding the sodden mattress that had been their seat. It was after 9 p.m. when we finally reached Managua, where we stopped by a supermarket before saying goodbye to Robert and Alvaro and then tumbling into bed as soon as possible, knowing we had only a few hours to sleep before setting off on the long journey back to Costa Rica early the following morning.
Central America Expedition 2010: Day 14, part 2 – Potters for Peace, Nicaragua
March 31, 2010
Aft
er our visit to Candelaria with AsoFenix we arrived in Managua slightly behind schedule but ready to dive right into our final project in Nicaragua: Potters for Peace (PFP). After transferring our gear from the AsoFenix van to the PFP truck, we set off again together with PFP Nicaragua Country Director Robert Pillers and his son-in-law, Project Director Alvaro Aburto. They drove us to a factory on the outskirts of Managua where Potters for Peace is manufacturing ceramic water filters as an effective way to bring clean drinking water to people who otherwise are unable to obtain or afford it.
Made from porous clay with a coating of silver, the simple and inexpensive filters remove 99.98 percent of bacteria, parasites, and turbidity and have been praised by both the U.S. Center for Disease Control and the United Nations for their effectiveness in providing potable water at the household level. During our visit to the factory, Robert and Juan Carlos Guevara, the production manager, walked us through the process of making the filters, which involves mixing finely milled clay with sawdust and water, pressing the mixture into a mold, drying it, and then firing it in a kiln. The firing burns away the sawdust, leaving miniscule pores for the water to flow through. After firing the filters are soaked and a quality-control test is conducted to measure the flow rate. The final step is to apply a thin coating of silver to kill any bacteria that get through the pores in the filter itself. In keeping with PFP’s mission of bringing clean drinking water to as many people as possible, the entire process is open-source technology, available on the organization’s website.
Potters for Peace was originally established in the mid-1980s to help artisan potters in Nicaragua improve their technology, skills, and marketing in order to make a better living. The devastation caused in Nicaragua by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 prompted the organization to began producing ceramic water filters to address the lack of clean drinking water. PFP no longer operates filter-making facilities directly but continues to provide training in order to enable others to establish factories around the world. So far PFP has facilitated the establishment of 33 filter-making facilities in 25 countries.
“Every 15 seconds a child dies because of the lack of potable water,” Robert told us, adding that what keeps him motivated is seeing “a child who would have been sick, who would have suffered, who would have missed days of school, now have a chance at a normal life.” Once again, as with AsoFenix, our visit to the Aquafiltros factory with Potters for Peace reinforced the importance of simple things such as clean water that it’s all too easy to take for granted.