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Data-Driven Success: WASH Edition

11/6/2019

When Pueblo a Pueblo intervenes on behalf of rural Guatemalan families, we want to know that we are delivering positive results.

Tomás observes students' behavior at the school

Observing Our Impact

Throughout Pueblo a Pueblo's partnership with Agua Escondida Primary School, we have been measuring our impact on the school by making observations both before and after we implemented critical interventions related to student health.

Tomás Mendoza is our Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator. He and his team use data collected in real time to make our projects more effective and more efficient each year. When Pueblo a Pueblo intervenes on behalf of rural Guatemalan families, we want to know that we are delivering positive results.

Monitoring & evaluation team member Matthew Teitelbaum collects data at Agua Escondida

Reflecting on Our Results in Agua Escondida

Before our interventions, our team observed that only 55% of upper-school students washed their hands after using the restroom, and no students used hand soap. After Pueblo a Pueblo staff implemented sanitation improvements and hygiene education, those numbers rose dramatically: 99% of students washed their hands, and 94% used antibacterial hand soap.

Agua Escondida Primary School students

A Real Win for Students

These results are helping improve students' health, happiness, and education. Diarrheal disease is considered a “major infectious disease” and significant public health risk in Guatemala (1) and puts infected children at risk of long-term malnutrition and death (2). Furthermore, education is a precious resource here in Sololá, where more than one in three adults cannot read or write (3), and poor sanitation infrastructure at home and at school counts among the top reasons young Guatemalans perform poorly or drop out (4).

Proper handwashing hygiene has been found to reduce the incidence of diarrheal disease by 31% (5), and Pueblo a Pueblo’s recent efforts have given students at Agua Escondida both the education and the infrastructure they need to protect themselves. Our post-intervention evaluation confirms a happier, healthier school, where students experience fewer interruptions to their education.

How YOU Can Help

We have completed Phase I of our collaboration with Agua Escondida Primary School—now our team is gearing up to double our impact with Phase II! Read more about what we've done and what we have planned here.

Can you help us make these plans a reality? Join us in making 2020 our most successful year yet! Click the button below to support our data-driven programming today.

donate now

Left: Teachers attend a hygiene education presentation led by Pueblo a Pueblo staff
Right: New handwashing stations at Agua Escondida Primary School

References
1) World Factbook Central America: Guatemala www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_gt.html
2) Política Nacional del Sector de Agua Potable y Saneamiento, Gobierno de Guatemala https://www.mspas.gob.gt/images/files/saludabmiente/regulacionesvigentes/PolIticaNacionalAPS/PoliticaNacionalSectorAguaPotableSaneamiento.pdf
3) Caracterización: República de Guatemala, Instituto Nacional de Estadística Guatemala https://www.ine.gob.gt/sistema/uploads/2014/02/26/L5pNHMXzxy5FFWmk9NHCrK9x7E5Qqvvy.pdf
4) See (2).
5) Effect of Hand Hygiene on Infectious Disease Risk in the Community Setting: A Meta-Analysis, American Journal of Public Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2446461/

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Next Stop, Native Bees!

9/26/2019

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What the San Pablo beekeepers have planned for their second year as
Pueblo a Pueblo partners—and beyond.

The team attends a recent training with Genaro Simalaj (left), Pueblo a Pueblo's senior beekeeping technician

This month, our partners in San Pablo La Laguna will celebrate one year together as a beekeeping team. Over the past year, they've worked hard to find their rhythm and establish some efficient group practices. In recent weeks, the beekeepers have taken on a new challenge: starting a second apiary for native stingless bees.

The group’s main apiary consists of 22 hives of European honey bees. This variety is widely used throughout the world because they produce large amounts of sweet honey. However, the San Pablo team is interested in more than just producing honey—they want to help preserve the biodiversity of their lakeside home, especially its native pollinators.

The new apiary, home to five varieties of native stingless bees

Last month, the group set up ten new hives with the assistance of Pueblo a Pueblo’s Senior Beekeeping Technician Genaro Simalaj. Their new apiary is home to five distinct varieties of native stingless bees. The group plans to transition into a two-part model: in addition to harvesting, bottling, and selling honey from their apiaries, they will operate as a beekeeping training center, offering technical instruction in beekeeping techniques and selling starter materials.

Since the group formed, they have been invested in sharing what they learn so that the benefits of the project can be multiplied. We’re proud to be working alongside beekeepers who are so dedicated to their families, their community, and their natural environment—and we can't wait to see all that they continue to accomplish together!

A European honey bee hard at work in the group's main apiary

beekeeping at pueblo a pueblo

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Hygiene Helpers

7/30/2019

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There’s a new team of Hygiene Helpers at Agua Escondida Primary School!

Tomás Pacay Mendoza is the manager of Pueblo a Pueblo's Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools project. This summer, he visited Agua Escondida to meet with its brand-new group of Hygiene Helpers: students who will work alongside faculty to promote healthy habits at their school.

These twelve students were selected by their teachers because they are active, enthusiastic, and invested in making their school a better place. The new ambassadors met with Tomás during his visit to learn more about their roles and responsibilities as Hygiene Helpers.

Tomás addresses the new Hygiene Helpers

Marlon is the president of his school's Hygiene Helpers

Their first order of business? Spreading the word about the importance of hand-washing—and how to do it correctly. The ambassadors will be on duty during recess, when they will encourage their peers to wash their hands (with soap!) after using the restroom. They will also participate in school-wide hygiene education assemblies, the first of which is coming up soon—just next week!

For now, the lower school Hygiene Helpers have to point their fellow students toward a temporary handwashing station made of a water cooler positioned over a plastic basin. While the school’s upper level got a makeover by the WASH project earlier this year, the lower school is waiting on a second phase of construction. With your support, Pueblo a Pueblo will initiate phase two and rebuild a bank of bathroom stalls in Agua Escondida’s lower level. The new facility will include boys’ stalls, girls’ stalls, and a fully functional handwashing station.

New handwashing station recently installed at the upper school

Makeshift handwashing station currently in use at the lower school

At the end of their meeting with Tomás, the Hygiene Helpers received vests to symbolize their role as leaders in their school. These dedicated students are already doing good work—consider a donation today to back them up with the improved facilities they need to make their school a healthier place to learn, play, and grow!

Donate now

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Pueblo a Pueblo Blog

Data-Driven Success: WASH Edition

When Pueblo a Pueblo intervenes on behalf of rural Guatemalan families, we want to know that we are delivering positive results.

Observing Our Impact

Reflecting on Our Results in Agua Escondida

A Real Win for Students

How YOU Can Help

Next Stop, Native Bees!

What the San Pablo beekeepers have planned for their second year as
Pueblo a Pueblo partners—and beyond.

Hygiene Helpers

Categories

Archives

Pueblo a Pueblo Blog

Data-Driven Success: WASH Edition

When Pueblo a Pueblo intervenes on behalf of rural Guatemalan families, we want to know that we are delivering positive results.

Observing Our Impact

Reflecting on Our Results in Agua Escondida

A Real Win for Students

How YOU Can Help

Next Stop, Native Bees!

What the San Pablo beekeepers have planned for their second year as​Pueblo a Pueblo partners—and beyond.

Hygiene Helpers

Categories

Archives

What the San Pablo beekeepers have planned for their second year as
Pueblo a Pueblo partners—and beyond.