“Before there was a poor sanitary facility open to the entire community, and with so many people from the school and the outside community using the bathrooms, maintenance was nearly impossible,” reports Tomás Pacay Mendoza, WASH in Schools Project Coordinator, about the single latrine at the Nueva Providencia Elementary School. “Some days the kids would come to school and find their bathroom completely unusable.”
Situations like this are common in Guatemala, where more than 40% of the rural population doesn’t have access to water in their homes, and even those who do often lack the knowledge and resources needed for good health and sanitation.
WASH in Schools works with school directors, teachers, and students to create a healthy school environment through the construction of sanitation facilities and education on personal hygiene habits.
Since the project's inception in 2012, Pueblo a Pueblo has built child-friendly hand washing stations, gender-segregated bathrooms, and water treatment systems in schools like Nueva Providencia. And infrastructure construction is only the first step in the process. Healthy behavior among teachers, students and community members is promoted and reinforced through teacher trainings and student seminars on topics such as water contamination, disease prevention, and the importance of forming good habits.
The effects have been astounding. Teachers have noticed an immediate, positive change in students’ self-esteem and attendance rates, and a decrease in the prevalence of childhood diarrhea.
What’s even more exciting, though, is how the students have spread their new knowledge.
As Doris, a sixth-grader at the Panimaquip Elementary School, says, “I always tell my mom what I learn in school, and then she tells my brothers. So now when I tell them what’s good for hygiene, like washing our hands, brushing our teeth, and using toilet paper, we all do it together.”
Situations like this are common in Guatemala, where more than 40% of the rural population doesn’t have access to water in their homes, and even those who do often lack the knowledge and resources needed for good health and sanitation.
WASH in Schools works with school directors, teachers, and students to create a healthy school environment through the construction of sanitation facilities and education on personal hygiene habits.
Since the project's inception in 2012, Pueblo a Pueblo has built child-friendly hand washing stations, gender-segregated bathrooms, and water treatment systems in schools like Nueva Providencia. And infrastructure construction is only the first step in the process. Healthy behavior among teachers, students and community members is promoted and reinforced through teacher trainings and student seminars on topics such as water contamination, disease prevention, and the importance of forming good habits.
The effects have been astounding. Teachers have noticed an immediate, positive change in students’ self-esteem and attendance rates, and a decrease in the prevalence of childhood diarrhea.
What’s even more exciting, though, is how the students have spread their new knowledge.
As Doris, a sixth-grader at the Panimaquip Elementary School, says, “I always tell my mom what I learn in school, and then she tells my brothers. So now when I tell them what’s good for hygiene, like washing our hands, brushing our teeth, and using toilet paper, we all do it together.”
