Alta Verapaz « Link for Health

Profile: CHOICE Humanitarian

CHOICE Humanitarian is ending poverty by focusing on sustainable village development. Our goal is to connect motivated villages to resources and tools to change their lives. By building skills, capacities and leadership of the villagers – the entire community brings itself out of the cycle of poverty.

CHOICE, which stands for Center for Humanitarian Outreach and Inter-Cultural Exchange, was started in 1982 by Dr. Tim Evans. Having returned from living in the Altiplano of Bolivia for 2 years, Dr. Evans had made a personal commitment to go back and help the Andean people. What started as the Children’s Andean Foundation, has grown, expanded and matured into the organization it is today – serving Kenya, Nepal, Guatemala, Bolivia and Mexico.

To follow CHOICE’s projects in Guatemala, please visit their blog. To read about the addition of two ambulances, headed to Alta Verapaz, please see this article. To find more information about CHOICE, please visit their website.

Profile: Charity Anywhere / 9-1-1 Guatemala

Charity Anywhere Foundation’s mission is to give ordinary people the life changing opportunity to provide needed medical care, dental services and basic shelter to less developed countries while concurrently forever changing the mind and heart of the volunteer for good. They have organized service projects as close to home as Twin Falls, Idaho and as far away as Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Mexico. They organize Dental and Medical expeditions as well as construction and re-construction projects.

9-1-1 Guatemala is a campaign of The Charity Anywhere Foundation. The campaign will raise funds to transport ambulances filled with supplies to rural hospital of La Tinta Guatemala.

To learn more about 9-1-1 Guatemala, visit their blog; or their Facebook or Twitter pages.

Profile: Engineers Without Borders

Dubbed the “Blueprint Brigade,” by Time Magazine, Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) grew from little more than a handful of members in 2002 to over 12,000 today.

EWB-USA has over 350 projects in over 45 developing countries around the world including water, renewable energy, sanitation and more. These projects are completed in partnership with local communities and NGOs. EWB-USA helps create a more stable and prosperous world by addressing people’s basic human needs by providing necessities such as clean water, power, sanitation and education. EWB-USA’s strength comes from its over 250 dedicated chapters, including university chapters on 180 campuses in the United States. Because of its strong university presence, EWB-USA is the catalyst for a new movement to educate the next generation of socially conscious engineers deeply aware of the needs of the rest of the world.

EWB-USA partners with developing communities in over 45 countries across the world. Their membership consists of professionals and students from a variety of professions including engineering, health, anthropology and business. EWB-USA members make up over 250 chapters located throughout the USA. Through its projects, EWB-USA provides innovative professional educational opportunities that provide a global perspective. Each EWB-USA chapter makes at least a five-year commitment to a partnering community. With the community’s input, the chapter designs and implements low-cost, small-scale, replicable and sustainable engineering solutions to problems identified by the community. This includes water, sanitation, and renewable energy. EWB-USA members train local community members and local NGO’s to successfully monitor and maintain the projects.

To view a representative list of EWB projects in Guatemala, please click here. To learn how to submit a project application, click here for English, or here for Spanish.

To learn more about EWB, please visit their website.

Profile: Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American Studies

In 2006, The Vanderbilt Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) was designated a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education. While maintaining one of the strongest concentrations of Brazilianists of any university in the United States, the Center’s renowned faculty also has particular strengths in Mesoamerican anthropology and archaeology, the study of democracy building and economic development, Latin American literature and languages, and African populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Center fosters a lively research community on campus by sponsoring colloquia, conferences, films, and a speaker series featuring distinguished scholars and government and business leaders. The Center is lead by Drs. Edward Fischer and Avery Dickens de Giron.

CLAS offers undergraduate major and minors and a M.A. degree in Latin American Studies as well as joint graduate degrees with the business school (MBA/MA) and Law School (LLM/MA). Moreover, the Center offers a popular graduate certificate program and administers summer research awards to students across the university carrying out work in Latin America. They are also one of the select graduate programs approved by the Department of Defense for its Foreign Area Officer training.

CLAS is home to a number of major research and outreach projects in Guatemala, including:

Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital / Shalom Foundation Alliance:

2-3 major surgical missions per year to Guatemala
Guatemalan rotations possible for Vanderbilt pediatric interns
In late 2010, opening the Moore Surgery Center in Guatemala City, an innovative “medical timeshare” for mission trips that will involve local medical students as well.

Center for Latin American Studies program in K’iche’ Mayan:

Funding by the U.S. Department of Education to teach Mayan languages
6 week Vanderbilt/University of Chicago Summer Intensive K’iche’ Program held in Nahaula, Guatemala

Biomedical Engineering:

Service-learning course taught by Cynthia Paschal; students work on medical equipment at Moore Surgery Center and other hospitals in Guatemala
Collaboration with engineering students from the Universidad del Valle

Owen School of Management:

Pyramid Project (led by Bart Victor) students develop strategic planning and business models for Primeros Pasos and other projects in Guatemala
In the last module, students came up with an innovative micro-finance mortgage system and tested a new product to combat malnutrition

Midwifery / School of Nursing:

New international component to the midwife program sends students to work with local midwives and Primeros Pasos

Vanderbilt Cancuén Archaeology Project:

Vanderbilt Cancuén Archaeology Park in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala
Integrating local development and health projects and eco-tourism opportunities

Alternative Spring Break:

Program going to Primeros Pasos clinic in Guatemala every year since 2005, organized through the Office of Active Citizenship (OAC)

Primeros Pasos / InterAmerican Health Alliance:

Based at Vanderbilt, this successful NGO founded and led by VU medical student Brent Savoie offers preventive pediatric care to over 1000 patients a month in rural areas
Opportunities for service-learning trips, medical student emphasis program
CLAS provides the US-based home at Vanderbilt

Conexión Guatemala:

Organization run by CLAS that brings together over 15 humanitarian mission efforts based in Nashville that focus on Guatemala

Medicine, Health, and Society / CLAS VISAGE Course:

VISAGE year-long course Spring/Summer/Fall 2010
Students will spend 6 weeks in Guatemala over the summer of 2010

Institute for Global Health / PEPFAR:

Alfredo Vergara hopes to develop a PEPFAR project in Guatemala with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Institute for Coffee Studies:

Possibilities for collaborations with ANACAFE (the Coffee producers association)

CLAS reaches thousands in Nashville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region through their various outreach programs to the educational, business, medical, and media communities. They have a vibrant K-12 teacher workshop series marked by high attendance and positive feedback; recent topics have included Andean archaeo-astronomy, the Panama Canal, and the art of Guayasamín. They offer Spanish instruction to their Medical School and at Fisk University. They regularly partner with local arts groups and community organizations to sponsor events. They have pioneered an effort to bring together NGOs, faith-based organizations, and academics working in Guatemala to coordinate efforts. They serve as a national resource through a variety of other programs as well, including cultural competency seminars, a film and lecture series, a classroom speakers’ bureau, and a resource lending library.

To learn more about CLAS, please visit their website. To read about their most recent trip, please click here.

Project Updates: Water Charity

Last September, we published a profile of a great organization called Water Charity. Now, we would like to update you with Water Charity’s most current projects in Guatemala:

Coxjac School Latrine Project: This is a project to construct three latrines for a school system in rural Guatemala. The process will also incorporate lessons involving the environment and waste management, hygiene and sanitation, and construction techniques and teamwork. The project is being carried out in Coxjac, Totonicapan, Guatemala, under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Casey Kittredge.

The latrines will be used by three groups of students who use the school (elementary, middle school and a weekend middle school program) for a total of 240 students and 12 teachers. The current bathrooms have been deemed unsanitary by the Department of Health due to their proximity to the area where the atol, the morning snack, is prepared for the elementary students.

La Cruz Water Project: This project is to build a 1200 liter rainwater catchment tank, with an accompanying hand washing station, at an elementary school in La Cruz, Cajola, Quetzaltenango. The tank will hold a 2-week supply of water for the 285 students that attend the school. The Escuela Oficial Rural Mixta has little access to water, consisting of a small chorro that receives water once a week for an hour. The young students currently bring water in 2-liter bottles from their homes or the local stream to school in order to sustain the water supply.

Water Charity is pleased to be participating with other NGOs in this project, and their funds will go for skilled labor and materials. The community and parents from the school are contributing additional labor, and will maintain the tank and pipes upon completion.

Santa Apolonia Composting Latrines Project: This is a project to build composting latrines in Santa Apolonia, Chimaltenango. It is being carried out under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Ellen Ostrow. In the municipality of Santa Apolonia, Ellen works with two rural agricultural communities, Chuaparal—an indigenous population—and Cojulya—a primarily Ladino population. Over half of the 47 families in the two groups do not have latrines. For those that do, the latrines, which often serve for more than one family, are in poor condition and do little to aid fecal control.

The communities are plagued by chronic diarrhea and other gastrointestinal diseases. The groups have requested a community latrine project, which will benefit a combined 300 men, women, and children.

Ellen is part of the Rural Home Preventive Health project, Peace Corps Guatemala. Volunteers are partnered with local health centers in various municipalities. Each health center reports to departmental level health centers which then report to the ministry of health.

Julio Verne School Project of Melanie Reda: Melanie Reda is a Peace Corps Volunteer, working in Aldea Saquiya, Municipio of Patzún, Chimaltenango. She is undertaking a project to construct a water deposit, and install eight faucets and three flushable toilets at the Julio Verne Elementary School.

Kristen Petros’s Water Tank Project: Kristen Petros is a Peace Corps Volunteer living near Patulup, El Quiche’. The local elementary school has 65 students, from pre-primary through sixth grade. The school receives no water during daytime hours. Water is needed for drinking, food preparation, hand washing, and cleaning.

Katie Bovitz, Volunteer in Paraje El Zapote: Katie Bovitz is a Peace Corps Volunteer, serving in Paraje El Zapote, Pachilip in the Municipality of Joyabaj, Department of Quiche. She is serving under a 9 month extension to her original Peace Corps commitment of two years. Katie will be leaving Guatemala in April, and asked if Water Charity could fund a last project she wanted to do before she left. After reviewing her proposal, they committed to the project, within her timetable. They told her to start acquiring the materials, as the funds are on their way.

In 2008, Katie raised money to build a two-room elementary schoolhouse in the village of El Zapote. The school is currently under construction and is scheduled to be finished by the end of April. She needed the funds for the latrines and hand washing station for the school.

Lenny’s “Pilas” Project: Peace Corps Volunteer Lenny Van Boven, serving in Chicocox, Quiche Guatemala is leading a project, involving extensive community participation, to provide sinks for use by 86 people.

Ventilated Latrines for the Village Of Chuisac: Katie McKenna, a Peace Corp volunteer, contacted Water Charity with a wonderful project in which she would work together with the villagers themselves and a local NGO with which she had previously partnered. In short, Water Charity decided to fund the building of latrines for the entire village of Chuisac in Chimaltenango. The project will be done in stages, with the first 20% already in motion.

Sonte School Project: The community of Sonte is located next to the major road running north through Alta Verapaz. It is easily accessible, and close to a major city. It is very poor and consists mostly of peasant farmers. A hand washing station will be built at the elementary school of the community. This project will be carried out by the teachers of the school and Peace Corps volunteer Dave Bowker, working together with community and local government. The school has recently received electricity, which will be used to power the pump.

Corozal School Project: Corozal is a small rural village in Alta Verapaz that is surrounded by tropical jungle. There is no electricity available, but the community does have a system of pipes that delivers water to about 50% of the houses and the school from a nearby spring. The project is to build a hand washing station for the school. It will consist of 8 faucets, sufficient to support the school’s growing population. All pipes inside the cement and running to the faucets will be galvanized steel and the cement itself will be reinforced with rebar, making the project very durable.

To learn more about Water Charity, please visit their website.

Profile: Guatemala Literacy Project

The Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP) is a partnership between North American & Guatemalan Rotary clubs and the non-profit organization Cooperative for Education (CoEd). This initiative provides badly-needed textbooks, library materials, and computer labs to underprivileged children in Guatemala.

The Project has been supported by over 300 Rotary Clubs. Since 1996, the textbook program has been brought to many impoverished rural communities. There are over 31,990 students using textbooks at 170 schools. The GLP has also founded 30 self-funding computer centers and 39 school libraries. The project already serves 10% of the country’s neediest secondary schools and is working with the goal of ensuring that no child in Guatemala grows up without the gift of both traditional and technological literacy.

The Guatemala Literacy Project matches Rotary clubs in North America with needy schools in Guatemala. These clubs raise funds to purchase textbooks, library materials and/or computers. Contributions typically range from $1,000 to $5,000. 100% of funds collected go to the hard costs of the project. Not a cent goes to administration or fundraising.

The project is implemented jointly by North American and Guatemalan Rotary clubs & districts and the Cooperative for Education (CoEd).

Textbooks
This program brings vital textbooks to impoverished Guatemalan middle school children. Studies show that the use of books in the classroom improves grades by up to 30% and comprehension, retention, and interest in subject matter by over 70%. These books, printed in Spanish, are in the core subjects of math, science, Spanish and social studies.

Computer Centers
Guatemala has a 25% unemployment rate for unskilled labor. There are simply too many unskilled people and not enough land or jobs to support them. Yet, on the other hand, there are significant opportunities for those who have skills, especially computer skills. According to a study by the Interamerican Development Bank, computer technology imported into Guatemala in recent years has grown by over 500%. In addition, 80% of mid-level jobs require computer skills.

Most schoolchildren in the impoverished rural areas of Guatemala have never had access to technology. Thus they continue to fall behind their urban peers. Their program seeks to bridge this divide by creating computer centers within underprivileged schools.

Mini-Libraries
One of the contributing factors to the low literacy rate in Guatemala is the lack of available reading materials. Most rural children have never read a book. By setting up mini-libraries within schools, books that capture children’s imagination and encourage reading are made available, as well as reference and teaching materials that enhance classroom learning. This is a highly collaborative program: Teachers at each recipient school work with library experts to form a list of needed materials along with a concrete plan of how they’ll be used. This ensures that all library materials will directly improve the education level at the school.

Self-Sufficiency Component
The most innovative aspect of these projects is that they are financially self-sufficient. Rental programs are set up in each school in which students pay the school a small fee to use a set of textbooks and/or the computer centers. This creates a fund for replacing the books and computers as they wear out.

To learn more about this program, please visit the website. To view a list of Guatemalan schools currently served by GLP, please click here.

Link for Health