Location
Aldea Miman Moq’lil, Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, northwestern Guatemala
Community Description
This indigenous Mayan community inhabits a small rural mountainside village in the north of the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The roughly one thousand inhabitants, comprising some one hundred families, are among the poorest people in the municipality and the region.
Homes are simple, usually made of wood, with dirt floors and open cooking fires. There is no sanitary infrastructure or electricity in the village, and recently the potable water system has been failing. The sole occupations of the community members are in domestic and agricultural labors.
Currently, a natural spring on community land higher up the mountainside supplies the entirety of the water for the community. A thorough system of holding tanks and supply pipes provide potable water for every house in the village.
During the past several months, the supply of water from the spring has been insufficient. Regularly, the spring becomes dry, and days on end pass without running water.
Project Description
The community has located another spring, near the existing spring, on municipal land. Permission has been granted from the local government for the use of this water as the supply of the village’s water system.
This project is the construction of a spring box at the new spring site, to allow for the collection of the water from the spring. In addition, a tubing will be run to the main holding tank of the existing system.
The existing holding tank is on top of the mountain above the village, an hour-and-a-half hike and some 300 meters up. It is made of steel-reinforced cement and holds approximately 10,000 liters.
Some 12-15 smaller tanks exist below the main tank in and around the village and serve for storage and distribution. Water will flow from the new spring to the main holding tank. From there it will flow by gravity to the lower distribution tanks.
Project funds will be used for the purchase of construction materials (cement, cement blocks, steel rebar, water pipe), and for the transportation of materials to the village.
A local community organization has been coordinating the project, and will be responsible for the maintenance of the water system.
Community members will contribute the manual labor for the construction of the project and will carry the materials up the mountain. The community will also collect and carry sand to be used in the cement.
A water conservation and cleanliness orientation meeting will be held in the community in conjunction with the completion of the new system.
Project Impact
This water project will serve all homes and inhabitants of the village, a total of 1000 people.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Nicholas Jurich
Comments
This is an urgent project to assist a community in dire need. Its immediate implementation is necessary for the survival of the community.
Dollar Amount of Project
$450.00
Donations Collected to Date
$450.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of Hope You Like It, “In Honor of Faith, Hope, and Love.”
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Nicholas Jurich of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Nicholas and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Guatemala.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.