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 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.
 The Borlaug Institute provides the global outreach of Texas A&M Agriculture. Their faculty, scientists, and students are involved in over 100 countries around the world to better international agriculture. Funded by the USDA, the Borlaug has implemented a three-year agricultural extension program to benefit the indigenous Mayan communities in Guatemala.
Agriculture in Guatemala: Technology, Education, and Commercialization (AGTEC) will increase access to new markets, technology, and knowledge for high-value agricultural products in Guatemala, including bioenergy crops and non-traditional fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
Improve Agricultural Systems and Management Techniques: The AGTEC program will introduce scientific advances and transfer technology from research centers to the field. The agricultural and sound environmental techniques gained from these programs will improve yields and increase income. Through extension outreach programs in rural communities, technical-assistance programs include:
- water conservation and management;
- crop rotation and diversification;
- soil retention to reduce erosion and demonstrate alternative crops and alternative land uses;
- harvesting and post-harvesting techniques to improve harvest efficiency;
- food processing capabilities to add value to products; and
- bioenergy technology to produce biofuel crops.
Enhance Agricultural Training: Partnering with local institutions, AGTEC has created an innovative series of technical and interactive training programs to help improve farmers’ knowledge of food production, safety, processing, and marketing. Many of these programs will be delivered by Texas A&M AgriLife experts in the field and translated into Mayan languages. These initiatives will cover such important topics as:
- food safety and quality for fruits, vegetables, and meat products; and
- sanitary and phytosanitary standards for agricultural products.
To learn more about this program, please visit their website.
Let’s Be Ready’s mission is to prepare at-risk Guatemalan children for the first-grade by establishing preschools and training preschool and first-grade teachers. Their vision is to break the cycle of poverty in Guatemala by reducing the high rate of drop-out and repetition of children in the first-grade. Their goal is to have 80% of their students successfully complete 6th grade—current national average is 20%. Their schools provide the students with a safe, clean place to play and learn. Parents are involved in the school so as to ensure both the support of their program and the commitment to their child’s on-going education.
Their methodology:
- They identify unemployed teachers who have been trained in the National Curriculum and who have the determination to start their own preschool.
- The teacher forms a partnership with a community who needs and wants a preschool.
- The community is required to provide the building for the school and the teacher must recruit parents willing to participate and volunteer.
- The teacher must also agree to be a demonstration school (i.e., they must share ideas and resources with other nearby schools) and they must agree to be accredited by the Department of Education.
- They find a sponsor to provide the teacher with financial support to cover their salary, training, equipment, materials and the cost of operating the school room.
- The teacher must attend their annual teacher-training program before opening their school.
- They require student attendance of 90%.
- They require 100% parent participation in school meetings and functions.
- The students’ readiness for the first-grade is assessed at the end of the year and the students are tracked through the completion of the 3rd grade.
Their teaching training program:
- They invite preschool and first-grade teachers from public and private schools in the communities in which they have established preschools to observe their classrooms.
- They require all of their preschool teachers to undertake a three-week teacher-training program before the beginning of each school year
- They also provide their teachers with mentoring throughout the school year.
Currently, Let’s Be Ready runs preschools in the following communities:
- San Pedro Las Huertas
- Colonia Hermano Pedro de Santa Ana
- San Juan del Obispo
- San Miguel Escobar
- San Juan Alotenango
- Santa Maria de Jesus
- Santo Domingo Xenacoj
- Aldea San Antonio de Santo Domingo Xenacoj
- Aldea El Rosario de Santo Domingo Xenacoj
- San Pablo La Laguna
- Chuisec
- Pacoj
- Tierra Colorado
- La Pila
Volunteers: They accept bilingual preschool teachers for assignments of at least 3 weeks and help them set up their lodging.
To learn more about Let’s Be Ready, please visit their website.
 Long Way Home’s (LWH) mission as a 501(c)(3) is to break the cycle of poverty among youth in developing communities by creating educational opportunities, cultivating civic interaction, and encouraging healthy lifestyles.
Education, Employment, and Breaking the Cycle of Poverty:
The intergenerational benefits of the opportunities provided by education have broken the cycle of dependency and poverty in many areas of the world, and have a tremendous opportunity to do so in rural Guatemala. Currently a majority of people in San Juan Comalapa subsistence farm for a living, which does not supply them with all of their basic needs. Long Way Home has dedicated itself to building a school in this town to bring education and job training to the people of this Mayan community. The education will in turn help them find employment.
San Juan Comalapa also has a garbage problem that can cause illness and disease. By using alternative construction techniques with materials that would otherwise be burned or enter the water supply, Long Way Home has created a solution for part of this dilemma. Through education, employment, and health the people of San Juan Comalapa have the power to increase the quality of life for generations to come.
To the community, they promise:
- To provide a safe environment for education and recreation;
- To bring and share innovative ideas in the areas of appropriate technology, education, and micro-enterprise;
- To train others to be development workers; and
- To be good stewards of the environment.
To the volunteers, they promise:
- To provide the opportunity to work hard, to learn, and to understand a unique culture.
To their supporters/contributors, they promise:
- To operate a lean organization that puts their contributions to the best possible uses in accordance with their mission; and
- To maintain accountability and transparency with all project financing.
To follow LWH’s construction progress, please visit this blog. To learn more about LWH, please visit their website, or Facebook fan page.
 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.
 Global Dental Relief brings free dental care to impoverished children of Nepal, northern India, Vietnam and Guatemala in partnership with local organizations. Volunteer dentists, hygienists, assistants and non-medical volunteers deliver treatment and preventive care in dental clinics that serve children in schools, orphanages and remote villages.
Travel and logistics for volunteers are coordinated by Global Dental Expeditions, dedicated to humanitarian journeys to serve children in need.
Since 2001, Global Dental has hosted over 600 dedicated dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and non-medical volunteers. Volunteers have treated over 44,000 children with first time and ongoing dental care. Global Dental recalls each population of children every two years to deliver continuous care. After ten years, they see children returning for their third or fourth visits. The results are clear –extractions are rare, restorations small, and children are aware of the importance of diet and consistent oral hygiene. This is the sustainable legacy they strive to leave with every child they treat.
In Guatemala, the group works in conjunction with Behrhorst Partners for Development in Chimaltenango.
This year, the group will host clinics beginning July 23 and November 19. To learn more about Global Dental, please visit their website.
 …doing well while doing good
Climb for a Cause (CFAC) is a non-profit Foundation that combines the breathtaking beauty of the mountains with the desire to make a positive difference in peoples’ lives. Since 1998, they have been making positive and meaningful differences in the lives of needy children and deserving adults around the world. CFAC offers individuals and organizations a unique opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to “giving back”–that is, to share the fruits of their success with those less fortunate. Each year, dental professionals, staff, Industry participants, and Media from across the nation assemble at one of North America’s natural wonderlands to CFAC. While not technically difficult, the Events typically pose a formidable endurance challenge. Funds raised from this year’s events will support the CFAC dental education and treatment projects in Guatemala and Nepal. Part of CFAC’s proceeds may also be allocated to other domestic oral health causes.
By working with in-country partners, CFAC has been successful in making a positive and noticeable difference in the lives of needy children and deserving adults.
To learn more about CFAC, please visit their website. To read about CFAC’s 13th annual fundraising event on Sept. 5, 2010, in the Three Sisters Region near Bend, Oregon, please click here.
 Amigos de Patzún (ADP) is a 501 3(c) non–profit which creates educational opportunities for impoverished students in rural Guatemala. They offer competitive scholarships to middle and high school students who would not be able to continue their education past sixth grade. In 2008, ADP also added a teacher training program focused on improving literacy skills in rural primary schools.
Amigos de Patzún is predicated on the belief that education is a basic human right, and can be a catalyst of systemic change and development. ADP was founded in 2001 by three Peace Corps Volunteers teaching in rural Patzún: Karen Towers, Paul Butki, and Jessica Daly. All three were struck by the lack of opportunity for rural students and worked with a local teacher, Anacleto Catu, to start ADP. Amigos de Patzun’s programs now include:
Middle School and High School Scholarships
In Guatemala, less than 5% of rural students will complete primary school and less than 5% of those that do graduate will continue onto middle school or high school. Consequently, ADP provides scholarships for middle and high school students from the rural areas of Patzún, Guatemala who would like to continue their studies beyond the 6th grade. Students are selected through a competitive process that weighs academic achievement, demonstrated financial needs, and teacher recommendations.
ADP scholarships include:
- Full tuition and fees
- Transportation – the bulk of a student’s cost
- Uniforms
- Books and supplies
- Medical Exams
Scholars also receive special tutoring from Peace Corps Volunteers, and participate in an internship program in which they shadow professionals working in their fields of interest. In addition, as part of the terms of the scholarship, Amigos de Patzún scholars give back to their communities. All scholars elect service projects they feel would most benefit their communities. ADP scholars plant trees in deforested areas, plant and cultivate school gardens, and tutor students in their local elementary schools. ADP strives to go beyond the academic needs of the scholars and helps address hardships faced by the families and the larger community. They are making a difference in many rural communities and they are growing every year.
Teacher Training Program
We at ADP recognize that the ability to recruit competitive students from rural communities into a scholarship program operating in highly demanding urban settings is fundamentally dependent on the quality of education rural students receive. Only 2.6% of Guatemala’s GDP is spent on education and rural schools are hurting for materials and support1. Teachers in rural areas receive very little in-service training and often do not receive quality materials or text books for their classrooms. In addition, teachers working in these rural communities almost exclusively live in urban Patzún.
To help address this disparity, ADP is working with a partner NGO, Miracles in Action, on a teacher training project that will equip rural teachers with skills and materials to improve didactic practices, including literacy, and provide certification to improve their professional development. The training includes a rigorous design with input from local teachers recognized for excellence by the Ministry of Education; instructional tool kits; continuous follow-up; and monitoring and evaluation. In addition, in January 2010, Miracles in Action and ADP helped teachers in Patzún launch a teacher resource center which will allow teachers to check out teaching materials to use in the classroom.
The first pilot training took place in July 2008 in two rural communities, El Cojobal and La Pila, and has since expanded to cover more than fifteen rural villages. The program has been a great success and the Ministry of Education has asked ADP and Miracles in Action to expand this program to cover all of Patzún’s rural primary schools.
1 World Bank Education Statistics, Guatemala, 2008.
To learn more about this group, please visit its website. Click here to read about one of this group’s partner organizations, Miracles in Action.
 Compassion Fruit Society, a Canadian based Non-Profit Organization is establishing the Project Somos Children’s Village in Guatemala. This village will be a safe and loving environment for orphaned and abandoned children. There will be homes with Guatemalan foster mothers each raising a household of children as a family. Education, leadership and arts will be integral to the Children’s Village. The Village will work hand in hand with the local Guatemalan community.
The most important facet of Project Somos is to nurture the children to become compassionate and creatively intelligent adults who will enter society as productive citizens. The hope of Guatemala lies in their young people and the Village will be raising Guatemala’s future leaders, parents, teachers and professionals.
As well as being designed to have an inherent beauty and harmony, the Village will be built to be eco-sustainable with alternative energy generation, rain water capture and grey water recycling. Organic agriculture will provide food for the moms and children.
The goal of Project Somos is to reach financial sustainability through Social Enterprises. Small businesses will be established to employ locals and to financially sustain the project in a real and concrete way. Ideas for potential businesses at this time include; volunteer tourism, special event hall rental and agricultural production. Project Somos is open and excited to partner with existing local and foreign businesses to establish Social Enterprises.
An ideal piece of land with existing structures has been found in Guatemala and at this time the Society is working on its Capital Campaign to secure the funding to purchase the property and to begin construction of the homes for the children.
To learn more about this group, please visit their website, blog, or Facebook page.
 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.
PAVA is a non-profit organization that works closely with rural communities in the Department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala to achieve long-term sustainable development through community-based projects and programs. A full-time staff based in the bustling town of Chimaltenango manages PAVA’s programs, providing technical expertise and coordination for infrastructure projects, environmental programs, and education.
PAVA began work in 1983 in response to ongoing civil violence. Initially, PAVA provided emergency relief to isolated villages in Guatemala. Through PAVA’s efforts food, seed, and building materials reached over 90 hard-hit communities. PAVA took the lead in the country by conducting needs assessments in many areas most affected by the violence and was able to provide effective, focused assistance. Soon afterward, PAVA began to work on development projects that offered these rural citizens longer-term solutions to problems affecting their communities. Starting with those initial villages, PAVA developed a working method of considering project proposals from various rural communities which sought specific assistance in order to achieve clearly-defined objectives. Along with representatives from these communities, PAVA planned and designed the proposed projects.
For over twenty years, PAVA has met with much success by following the principle of community initiated proposals to foster community development and leadership in rural towns and villages in the Department of Chimaltenango. The U.S. PAVA Foundation was organized to support the ongoing work of PAVA Guatemala and became an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in November 1986.
In every project and program, PAVA collaborates with its beneficiaries on the basis of respecting local initiative. In working with PAVA, communities learn that by taking the time to organize their efforts and follow through to completion, they can make a positive difference in their community.
PAVA projects and programs include the following:
- School Construction
- Potable Water System Construction
- Bridge Construction
- Scholarship program and teacher professional development
- Environmental education and conservation programs
- Reforestation
To learn more about PAVA, please visit their website.
The Wisconsin Professional Partners Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-WPP) has approximately 175 members and is currently working on Guatemalan projects independently, and with four universities in the area: The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), Marquette University (MU), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), and Michigan Technological University (MTU).
EWP-WPP is currently working on bridge projects in the Departments of Chimaltenango and Quiche. These projects are completed in partnership with local communities and NGOs.
- El Aguacate: EWB-WPP is partnering with the community of El Aguacate (in the Joyabaj municipality, Guatemala), to rebuild a bridge. The previous bridge was built in 1987 to provide El Aguacate and the four surrounding communities access to the surrounding area where they had been previously cut off by a river. The bridge lasted until about four years ago when it began to fail. For a few years the village used tree trunks to provide additional structural support, although the trunks usually washed away during the rainy season. Now, however, the bridge is in such disrepair that it is unsafe to cross, even with the additional support. This bridge is of particular concern because it is the only way in or out for five communities during the rainy season. During the dry season, the communities are able to put in a temporary bridge further upstream. For the other five months, however, the community is cut off from larger markets, medical care and education.
- Rio Chiquito: EWB-WPP has been solicited by the communities of Rio Chiquito and Joyabaj (Guatemala) to provide a bridge design that will replace the existing structure connecting the City of Joyabaj to the northern regions of the Joyabaj municipality. The existing bridge is inadequate to safely carry any loads greater than that of automobile and pedestrian traffic. The new bridge will span the Rio Chiquito between the Village of Rio Chiquito and the City of Joyabaj and will be designed to safely carry automobile, truck, bus and pedestrian traffic. As a result, the new bridge will better connect the northern regions of the municipality with the city of Joyabaj and also allow for the development of a bus route. The bus route will provide increased access to medical care and education for the villagers of the northern region.
EWP-WPP is working with the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) on the following projects in Quiché:
- Tres Cruses I: MSOE and WPP will cooperate on the Tres Cruces I bridge project in eastern Joyabaj municipality in early 2010. EWB-WPP is planning to do excavation and foundation work during their January 2010 trip (while also constructing the bridge at El Aguacate). EWB-MSOE will then complete the structure during late February and early March 2010. The cast-in-place, reinforced concrete T-beam bridge will have a single span of approximately 25 feet, with a clear height of approximately 10 feet. The student group and their mentors from WPP are now completing the hydro design so the structural design can be done during September and October. The municipality of Joyabaj, with which EWB-WPP and EWB-MSOE have completed several bridge projects, identified the Tres Cruces I bridge as one of their top priorities. It will eliminate a two-hour detour between villages at the east end of the municipality and the city of Joyabaj during the rainy season.
- Electrical System: An elementary school in Quiche, Guatemala has been surveyed and MSOE students and professional mentors are working together to design a solar system that will provide electrical power for the school. The electricity will power lights, a refrigerator, and appliances. The system is scheduled to be implemented in March 2010.
The chapter is working with Marquette University (MU) on the following projects in Chimaltenango and Quiché:
- La Garrucha, Guatemala: A 26km water (spring fed) supply project, designed with a 2000 person capacity for the village of La Garrucha with a current population of approximately 1200. Funding for this project is complete and construction is nearing completion. This project was a 2008 Marquette University Civil Engineering Senior Design project.
- La Nueva Providencia, San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala: Electrification project with elements of solar and hydroelectric power. Currently, the most active MU project, the solar system to power the school and community center for the village of La Nueva Providencia has been completed. The hydroelectric system has been started, and will be completed over the next implementations trips. Fund raising for the hydroelectric element of this project is in progress, but not all the necessary funds have been secured. The greatest challenge with this project is the extreme poverty of the community, which has lead to difficulty determining a source of funds for the long-term maintenance and operation of the hydroelectric project.
The chapter is working with University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UWM) on the following project in El Quiché:
The potable water distribution and sanitation project in Quejchip, Guatemala, Phase II was finished in July. The project team built a chlorinator at the distribution tank and ran approximately 4 kilometers of buried PVC pipe to 48 houses. Tap stands were built for each household. A village teacher along with the UWM team presented a Health and Hygiene education program for both kids and adults. A Latrine and Hand Washing Station was also built for the elementary school.
The chapter is planning a corn grinder and cane press project with Michigan Technological University (MTU) in Fronterizo/Nueva Libertad, Huehuetenango.
To learn more about the Wisconsin Chapter of EWB, please visit their website, LinkedIn page, or Facebook page. To read about EWB-USA, please click here.
 Maya Pedal is a non-governmental organization located in San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango. They started in 1997, working with a group of Canadians from the organization PEDAL. Following a vision for sustainable development in Guatemala, they became constituted under local control as Asociación Maya Pedal in 2001. They recycle used bicycles to build pedal-powered machines, bicimáquinas, which support and help facilitate the work of small-scale, self-sustainable projects. Through this work they hope to contribute to the conservation of the environment, the health of the Guatemalan people, and the productivity of the local economy.
The group’s mission and vision is to support the basic family economy, through the design and distribution of bicycle machines, providing an efficient alternative for rural development; and to promote the use of bicycle machines through programs, projects, partnerships, activities, and actions.
¿What are bicimáquinas? Bicimáquinas (translates as “bicycle machines”) are pedal-powered machines that act as an intermediate technology to assist the family economy in obtaining a higher production capacity in agriculture and in small business. Each bicimáquina is produced individually in their shop with a combination of old bikes, concrete, wood, and metal. So far they have developed several original designs that have proven to be both functional and economical.
Models that the group produces include:
- Bicycle Mill/Corn Degrainer
- Bicycle Blender
- Bicycle Water Pump
- Microconcrete Vibrator (Roofing Tiles)
- Tricycles and Trailers
- Bicycle Coffee Depulper
- Bicycle Metal Sharpener
- Bicycle Washing Machine
- Bicycle Electricity Generator
- Soil plow/till/hoe
- Bicycle Nut Sheller
- Bicycle Wood Saw
- Just Bikes!
To find out more about Maya Pedal, please see their website.
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