School Health and Hygiene for Mayan Children

This week, the local Water Committee from the village of La Cumbre, in the municipality of Cerro de Oro asked us for help. Last month, the community water pump broke, leaving the entire village without a constant water supply. Due to the lack of support from the local government, the La Cumbre community elicited support...

Thanks to you, Pueblo a Pueblo has successfully made badly needed sanitation infrastructure repairs in four local elementary schools (Tzanchaj, Panabaj, La Cumbre, Chacayá).  From the installation of hand washing stations to the construction and repair of bathrooms, the WASH project improved physical sanitary...

Happy Global Handwashing Day! Promoting proper hand washing habits using soap can be considered a “do-it-yourself” vaccine, as defined by Global Handwashing Day partners, and it can save millions of lives and promote a healthier way of life for children around the world! Each year, millions of children under the...

Just a couple weeks ago, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Project held the third teacher training of the year with teachers at Tzanchaj Elementary School. Although we are several weeks away from Global Handwashing Day (October 15), Pueblo a Pueblo is busy getting teachers and students ready to have a fun-filled week of...

Children at the La Cumbre Elementary School actively participate in Pueblo a Pueblo’s WASH program all year around. But what about their parents? Inspired by the trainings they received from Pueblo a Pueblo, teachers organized its first hygiene class for parents on the day before Mother’s Day and invited Pueblo...

Last week we completed the first teacher training at Tzan Chaj Primary School, our newest WASH partner. The training began with a discussion of what the school is already doing to improve hygiene among students. While all the teachers are implementing some amount of hygiene activities in their classrooms, they agreed they...

This week we began installing a water tank at the La Cumbre School to pump much-needed water across the property. Due to low water pressure throughout town, the school often had very little water and toilets could not be flushed. Water is pumped from existing tanks at the school into this new tank, creating sufficient...

During the November and December school recess, Pueblo a Pueblo is implementing a vacation program at the four schools where we have organic gardens as well as at the school with a Pueblo a Pueblo supported library. We took advantage of these activities to reinforce correct and consistent dental hygiene. Using a short story...

Pueblo a Pueblo began the School Health and Hygiene activities by completing a needs assessment in two primary schools in communities close to Santiago Atitlan. These assessments helped us identify where and how to begin our work. In order to have the greatest impact, we chose to focus first on Escuela Chacayá. This...