Ikiama Nukuri Birthing House, Ecuador

EMI is honored to partner with Fundación Pachamama to provide a concept water and wastewater design, including design reviews for architecture, structural, and electrical elements in the construction of a Birthing House in remote Taisha, Ecuador. The birthing house will serve the unreached Achuar and Shuar people groups located in the Amazon rainforest in an effort to reduce high maternal and infant mortality rates occurring in these remote regions of Ecuador. The construction of the Birthing House by Fundación Pachamama will also hopefully serve as a beachhead for future frontline missions to reach the unreached Achuar and Shuar people groups located deep in the Amazon rainforest.

Project Scope

Fundación Pachamama operates a health program in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador called Ikiama Nukuri that focuses on providing solutions to the problem of high maternal and infant mortality rates within the remote Achuar and Shuar indigenous territories of the Amazon rainforest. Over the past ten years, the Ikiama Nukuri program has attended almost 3,000 pregnancies and have trained 71 Maternal Health Promoters that serve 79 indigenous communities.

Ikiama Nukuri coverage represents 100% of the Achuar Nation’s Associations, a territory of about 5,000 people, and 50% of the Shuar Nation’s Associations, a territory of about 8,000 people. The program completed its expansion to the Achuar territory in 2021 and maintains its objective of expanding to 100% of Shuar territory by 2025.

As part of Ikiama Nukuri program expansion, Fundación Pachamama is looking to construct a Birthing House located in the remote town of Taisha, Ecuador located in the farthest accessible reaches of the Amazon rainforest. The Birthing House will assist with women’s healthcare during pregnancy and delivering babies that will service an area 400 square kilometers wide. The Birthing House will consist of 4 rooms to house birthing, ultrasound scans, initial treatment, emergency, medical storage, and 24/7 midwifery support.

Fundamentally, EMI has been tasked with assisting Fundación Pachamama with providing a concept design for backup water and wastewater systems for the Birthing House as the existing systems are intermittent and unreliable at best. Pachamama has also made a request for an architectural design review of the proposed Birthing House that will use traditional construction and building materials local to Ecuador.

In addition, to honor the commitments made to the Taisha Municipality by Fundación Pachamama, EMI will travel to Wampuik by plane to provide on-site assessment of the proposed Wampuik Water System outlined in a report written and prepared by the Taisha Municipality. The on-site assessment will include remote structural assessment and repair methodology of some existing concrete water towers currently not in operation.

Would you prayerfully consider joining us as we seek to help these unreached people groups in the Amazon rainforest?

— Ryan Williams, EMI Canada trip leader

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