Sobradinho (Bahia)
The city of Sobradinho (38,000 inhabitants) in the state of Bahia was a fishing settlement on the Rio São Francisco until 1972 . After construction work began on the Sobradinho reservoir , the residents of four cities and 30 villages had to leave their homes. 11,853 families, a total of more than 70,000 people, had been relocated by 1977. Of these, 5,806 families moved to rural areas around the lake and 3,851 families moved to new towns including Sobradinho.
There has been an active partnership between parishes in Sobradinho and Wachtendonk (Lower Rhine) for more than twenty years, which has contributed to the support of several social projects, as well as the construction of numerous cisterns to make the rural population independent of external water supplies. The region has sufficient rainfall on average over the year, but this is concentrated in the four winter months.
Partnerships
