We stopped but the good work continues!!

Last week we received a report from the Guatemala Partnership of New Castle Presbytery. What a great email it was. In 2009 our little Help for the Highlands of Guatemala NGO started a project in Guatemala working with a local Guatemala NGO in Quiaquix called AJPU. It was a partnership that was to last for about 10 years. In that time we had built Biosand water filters, vented pit latrines, and fuel-efficient vented stoves. We introduced AJPU to some great ladies connected with New Castle Presbytery. That led to a connection with the Mam Christian Women’s Association. Our three groups worked together providing water filters, VIP latrines and stoves right up to 2019 when Help for the Highlands of Guatemala came to a close as many small NGO’s do after a period of time. However, the work did not stop and as the following article shows, the initiative started in 2009 is still going strong led by the Guatemala Partnership. Please read the article and then look at the links provided to get a small idea of how a good work started can keep on going. Thank you to AJPU, the Mam ladies, and all of the invested people from the various churches who are helping to make life better for many families in Guatemala. Please support their good works.

Stoves: A Hot Commodity  In celebration of the Supporting Our Sisters initiative, we will be sharing real-time updates of the many projects and programs we support in Guatemala. And as summer heats up, there is no better way to start than with the delivery of Fuel-Efficient Stoves!     Just last week, our manufacturing partners of AJPU delivered 30 stoves to Association women in a remote village in the Western Highlands. The location is so remote, in fact, that the AJPU team had to stay there for three days to complete the installations! (The recipient families graciously hosted them, providing meals and lodging.) These 30 families are now cooking their daily meals on new stoves that use less wood, save money, vent smoke outside, and provide heat for the home. Loading the truck to make the journey into the mountains.AJPU typically has a quick turnaround time for delivery and installation of their products, but the COVID crisis changed all of that. Travel restrictions and building material shortages caused significant delays last year. Thankfully, everything is now back on track.Alfredo teaches the women how to use their new stoves.To date, about 300 stoves have been delivered to Association members, with another 40 stoves scheduled for delivery in late July. We are grateful to all of the generous donors who made this possible! These stoves are so popular that there is still a waiting list of 60 additional women who have saved up their share of the cost and are waiting for a stove. If you would like to purchase a stove with one of these women, simply donate online or use this order form. You can learn more about these stoves and our partnership at www.ncpguatemala.com. Thank you for Supporting Our Sisters!Support our sisters today.Share and Stay Connected!ForwardShareTweetWebsiteFacebook

HHGS is Formally Dissolved as an Entity

It is with some sadness that we are letting you know that It is now time to bring to an end the work that Help for the Highlands of Guatemala Society has been doing since 2010. This non-profit has now been legally de-registered and financially wound up.

This society started by offering subsidized home water filters and improved wood stoves. As a result of wider surveying and investigation of the community needs, it progressed to other topics as well. That included women’s empowerment; financial support to keep kids and young adults in schools from grade 7 through technical schools or university; ventilated improved pit latrines; training in self-managed microfinance; contributions to start-up capital for a cooperative entity in the community; training for non-profit management; and equipment to assist the community’s forest protection teams.

A couple of key factors make it seem more feasible to end the project work now. First, the local non-profit partner Asociación Ajpu, is on the road to turning the production and sale of water filters, stoves, and latrines into a business that can generate cash flow for community benefit. Second, the new cooperative entity will focus on financial services such as small loans and savings accounts. We feel that both factors have developed due at least in part to the work that Help for the Highlands of Guatemala Society has done.

There have been friendships developed over the years, and it will sadly mean less personal contact in the future. There will hopefully be occasional opportunities for the Canadians to visit with those from Quiacquix.

This decision was made reluctantly. But the three original founders of the society have all developed reasons to proceed in different directions in their lives and volunteer activities. As is typical for a very small non-profit, it is very difficult to develop a succession plan. Managing the projects and finances was becoming too difficult for the founders. And essentially there never was a consideration that the society would be a long-lived entity. Ten years seems to have been a good run.

We thank all those individuals and Rotary clubs which have contributed funds to this 10-year process. We wish all the residents of Quiacquix and other communities which we have impacted the best possible future, in a social, financial and political sense.