NEWSLETTER for UNDP
Task: Craft a newsletter informing donors and partners about the work being done to combat floods.
Process: Gather input from researchers, journalists, stakeholders, and policymakers on the ground. Go through multiple drafts to ensure proper messaging (generally, a diplomatic but heartfelt tone was employed.
Target audience: Donors, partners, stakeholders, and the general public.
Results: High open rate with multiple responses from the target audience. Funding maintained.
It was an honor to be a part of this project.
Email Subject Line: We have found ways to combat floods in Kampong Sawa.
Headline: Kampong Sawa. Combating floods with new drainage and sanitation systems.
We all have the right to decent living conditions, with basic services and quality of life, in a safe environment where we can grow and thrive. Sadly, there are places in the world where this seems more like an ideal than a reality. In the community of Kampong Sawa, up until recently, the inhabitants constantly struggled with health problems arising from poor sanitation.
Kampong Sawa is located in Mariënburg, an old sugarcane plantation, which, during the Dutch colonization, became the second-largest in the world. Today, the plantations are abandoned, and while the village has become a tourist attraction, its people still live in humble conditions.
For the last 30 years, the people of Kampong Sawa have been living in poor housing conditions. To make matters worse, climate change has hit the area hard with horrible floods, putting everyone’s health at great risk.
The problem in Kampong Sawa: Floods and “the Kakos”.
Kampong Sawa literally means "low zone", and that’s what the place is: a lowland area that gets heavily flooded when it rains.
Most people use the term, “The Kakos,” to refer to the types of basic bathrooms they have outside of their houses. To make these baths, a hole is dug in the ground and a bath is installed on top of it.
Can you imagine what happens to these baths when it rains heavily? The Kakos is flooded and everything gets mixed up together in one big mess.
“We had water closets outside. When the rain pours, the area floods, and the gutters get clogged from the flood water going into people’s kitchens. We had to wear boots while cooking.” Roshni Partoredjo, community member in Kampong Sawa.
Climate change: one of the causes
In the age of climate change, natural disasters have become more frequent, affecting both large and small populations. It is not normal for the weather to have such abrupt devastating changes.
In the case of Kampong Sawa, we have to take critical action, otherwise, the area will end up underwater, ruining many people’s lives. Before making any changes to the infrastructure, to confront the effects of climate change in Kampong Sawa, research on key adaptation measures was conducted at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Faculty of Technological Sciences, Department of Infrastructure. This allowed us to make important improvements to drainage and sanitation systems.
How do we confront the problem?
None of this would be possible without the help of The Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP), in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Institute for Environment and Development in Suriname (NIMOS). Together with the community of Kampong Sawa, we have worked hard to combat floods with an effective drainage and sanitation system.
The action taken included excavation work to drain the area, and also, providing those accustomed to using the “Kakos” with septic tanks and decent bathrooms.
“Now this place does not flood anymore. In the past, the floodwater would reach the streets, the backyard, and even our kitchen, but now, because our gutters and septic tanks have been fixed, things are better; I'm happy with the results.” Mister Daling, community member in Kampong Sawa.
We are happy to have improved the lives of the people from Kampong Sawa. There is still a lot of work to do in different sectors of Suriname, but little by little we are contributing to the country’s sustainable development.
