Location
Paraje Santa Cruz, Caserío Santa Cruz, Aldea Cancábal, Municipality Malacatancito, Department Huehuetenango, Guatemala
Community Description
Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces is a small, rural community whose economy is based predominantly on subsistence agriculture, more specifically on the cultivation of corn and beans.
Children attend E.O.R.M. Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces, the community’s single-teacher, one-room elementary school. Unfortunately, E.O.R.M. Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces has NO ACCESS TO WATER OR FAUCETS within the school’s facilities. Students fill bottles with water from local springs and carry these to school daily in order to wash their hands and brush their teeth, while women are responsible for carrying sufficient water to school for preparing food and washing dishes.
The lack of water within the school facilities represents two primary problems. First, it is a health risk for students who cannot adequately practice basic hygiene, and second, it represents an added burden for the women of the surrounding community whose role it is to collect and carry water to school daily.
Given this situation, the Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces has identified generating access to water at E.O.R.M. Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces as the top priority within the community.
Project Description
This project is an integral part of a larger project to bring water to the school. The project involves the digging of a well and the pumping of the water to a tank for storage and use for food preparation and handwashing.
The Water Charity portion of the project is for the purchase and installation of an electric water pump, which will be used to pump water from the well to the handwashing station. Project funds will pay for the water pump, sensor, cables, PVC tubing, switch, and wages for the workers.
The Consejo de Padres de Familia at E.O.R.M. Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces (the school’s Parents Association) has identified water on school grounds for the well, collaborated with the municipal engineer to design the well, water tank, and handwashing station, and contracted the well excavator, mason, and electrician.
The water tank is a 1,100 L plastic Rotoplast that will be set in a 4 m structure of galvanized tubing. The handwashing station is cement wall-style lavamanos with four faucets and drainage. It will be set against the outer-wall of the kitchen.
Wells within the community have a depth of between 25 m and 40 m. The project budget anticipated a depth of 40 m. However, the community has agreed to pay the additional costs if the well must be deeper. The well will be lined with block and will have a concrete cover.
The community has electricity. The submersible pump (120 V, 1 HP) will be placed at the bottom of the well to pump the water up to the water tank. An automatic sensor will also be installed in the water tank to turn off the pump when the tank is full.
The Consejo de Padres de Familia is overseeing the project in its entirety and community members have been organized and are donating their labor to the project.
Project Impact
This project will benefit the twenty students and the single teacher at E.O.R.M. Santa Cruz, Tres Cruces, who will have access to water to practice basic hygiene during school hours. In addition, 90 community members who attend community meetings and celebrations at the school will also benefit.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Megan May
Comments
This water system will give the school access to water all the time, allowing students to practice basic hygiene and giving the women of the community relief from the burden of carrying water to school daily. The practices in school will carry over to the home and reduce the burden of diarrheal disease in the community.
Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00
Donations Collected to Date
$555.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of Michael and Carla Boyle, of Huntingdon, PA, USA.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Megan May of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Megan and/or those other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.