Sketches around the world

Our town - Avellaneda - has unfortunately been flooded many times. It is crossed from west to east by a river called the "Sarandi".

Times of flooding have always been very painful for our town, because as well as bringing with them their share of very unpleasant consequences, they also highlight the fact that our drainage system is extremely inefficient: a foul smell hangs about our environment. It is getting almost impossible to move around our narrow streets; the earth is very quickly contaminated. The whole farming sector is severely challenged. This is a dramatic situation for the farmers whose income relies on working the ground.

The population however continues to increase, and these first steps are now not enough. People are settling on the shores of the non-protected part of the river. Bad smells are part of daily life.

Encasing the river does not seem to us to be a good solution.

After visiting the contaminated area, we decided that the best course of action would be to clean up and improve the drainage of our stream. This would not only give local residents access to a healthy environment but would also give children the advantages of an extraordinary place where they could go swimming and have fun, a place where people could get together to spend Sunday with all the family.

What's more, this improvement would also benefit our farmers, insofar as it would make the earth more fertile. We would have lovely fruit and vegetables... Our economy would flourish...

Setting up a sewer system and treating wastewater are, for us, the ideal solutions for re-injecting life into our environment. We would like everyone to apply the broad outline for sustainable development - citizens, companies, government - so that all areas of our town radiate good health.