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

December 1, 2015 Field Report

 

The past week was a busy one. The sun started to shine about mid-week. However, it is still mighty cold once the sun sets.

Comments by Rosario Diaz Vicente about Biosand Filters (BSF)

 

If you ever have any doubts about the use of the Biosand Filter in Guatemala, please read the following testimonial. With the assistance of our organization (HFHGS) in conjunction with our builders and installers in Guatemala, her organization installed 235 filters in 2014 and has recently completed monitoring of the filters. The following is a translation of the original document which is also included in this blog entry.

November 24, 2015 Field Report

Field Report for the Week Ending November 24

Classes are finished and on Friday we moved to our new residence for the next two weeks, Doña Elvira in Totonicapán. It is essentially a B&B operation where our hosts live on the premise and we get breakfast and dinner. The food is very good. The higher altitude seems to have made a real difference in temperature. It has been very cold with lots of rain.  The rain this late in the year is abnormal and the local people are concerned that their corn harvest will be delayed or the crops might be deteriorating in the field.

October 26 Field Report

Following is Bill’s weekly report from Quiacquix.

October 1 Field Report

It is amazing how a month can go by and you think day by day that not much is happening. Then you look at the month gone past and realize just how much was accomplished.

September 7 Field Report

Progress continues on the Mam biosand water filter project.

184 filters have been built. See picture.

August 7 Field Report

So many positive things to talk about.

The Mam Christian Women’s project is progressing at a good rate. In the last blog I had motioned the trouble we were having in finding a simple item such as ¼ inch tubing to keep building filters. Matt from the North Central College in Chicago, whom I talked about in the last blog, came through. He brought enough tubing to complete all of about 20 of the 230 filters. To date we are now at:

• 146 filters built

• 93 filters in use

• 93 families with someone trained in care and use of the filter

July 7 Field Report

This is a brief update on the Mam Christian Women’s biosand filter project.

The project hit a bit of a snag after construction of filter #108 mentioned in the last blog entry. The problem was finding plastic tubing for the filter.

June 28 Field Report

In the following set of pictures, you will see the health care workers and others taking the water containers to the homes where the filters have been placed.