Blog Posts

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.

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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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A Milestone for Sponsored Students

11/4/2019

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Sponsored student Magdalena receives her diploma

Diego poses with his diploma

On October 30, Sandy Mendoza went to Chukmuk Primary School to attend a very special ceremony. It was an exciting day for the sixth graders of Santiago Atitlán. They were there to celebrate an important milestone: their primary school graduation.

Sandy was there to support the graduating students who have received scholarships from Pueblo a Pueblo. As part of the Primary Education Scholarships team, Sandy has been with these students every step of the way. She has visited their homes to check in on them when they’ve had a tough time in school. She has spoken with their teachers for updates on their academic progress. She has given them encouragement and tough love in equal measure.

One sponsored student named Diego had a special role in the day’s festivities. As recognition for earning the highest grades in his year, he carried the school’s flag when he and his classmates filed onto the stage.

Diego and the other sponsored sixth graders have overcome a lot to finish primary school. They all come from families that believe in the importance of education but struggle to make ends meet. For many sponsored students, a scholarship from Pueblo a Pueblo is the only way they can attend school at all. Many of them are the first in their families to graduate from sixth grade.

During the ceremony, each student received a diploma, shook hands with the principal, and smiled for a picture in front of the Guatemalan flag. The room was filled with powerful emotions. One student’s mother approached Sandy for a tearful hug, thanking her again and again for “all you’ve done for my son.”

In January, Diego and the other sponsored graduates will begin seventh grade with the support of donors like you.

Your donations make it possible for students like Diego to attend and excel in school. Thank you for believing that economic need should not be a barrier to education. Your support fuels sponsored students' success!

Donate now

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Promoting Our Partners: Ixaq Ch'ajch'oj

10/15/2019

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Vilma teaches about menstruation and demonstrates the use of the pads

Our team is hard at work spreading the word about menstrual health—and promoting our partners’ earth-friendly reusable menstrual pads among the young people of Santiago Atitlán.

In September, Vilma and Rebeca were invited to participate in a local health fair designed to introduce teens to a variety of topics related to sexual health. They were asked to present on reproductive anatomy and menstrual health.

Middle- and high-school students passed through the Pueblo a Pueblo tent all day. Rebeca gave each incoming group a brief introduction to the male and female reproductive systems, and Vilma spoke to them about the menstrual cycle.

Rebeca and intern Denise present on the topic of reproductive anatomy

At the end of Vilma’s presentation, she passed out cloth menstrual pads made by Ixaq Ch’ajch’oj, a local woman-led microbusiness and partner of Pueblo a Pueblo’s Woman’s Right to Health program. The teens looked closely at the pads, unsnapping each menstrual “pod” to inspect the detachable cloth tucked inside its impermeable protector.

Vilma and Rebeca are dedicated to equipping young people with the knowledge and tools they need to keep themselves healthy—and Ixaq Ch’ajch’oj is one of their key partners in this endeavor. By providing a low-waste, affordable alternative to disposable menstrual products—and challenging taboos around menstruation at the same time--Ixaq Ch’ajch’oj is making the world a better place for women of all ages.

Can you help us launch this new microbusiness into self-sufficiency? Your gift to Women’s Health Champions will help bring sustainable menstrual health products to women across the Lake Atitlán region and provide a source of sustainable income for the women who make them.