10 August 2009

To: Bill Kramer
Program Manager
International Rural Water Association

From: Lynn Roberts
Agua Para La Salud
Guatemala

The months of  July and August 2009  were concentrated on completing two major projects in school sanitation , water supply and hand washing . Donations from International Rural Water, Peerwater Exchange and  Global Water along with the remaining funds from Water For People and the Fontenero 2009 project with schools. We also received a donation for lavamanos in the Flavio Rojas school in Chichicastenango.

The Peerwater Exchange project was in three schools in the Nebaj area. They were Kanaquil, Chuche, and Janlay. All of the projects concentrated on the repair of existing and new  sanitation and water facilities to improve the capacity to train children in hygiene habits.

The project in Chuche was to renovate the latrines at the school that were in poor repair, repair an existing lavamano ( hand washing station) and construct a school stove for the morning snack.

CHUCHE LATRINES BEFORE CONSTRUCTION	LATRINES DURING CONSTRUCTION
FINISHED LATRINES

The roofs and doors  of the  latrines in Chuche were in very poor condition which caused the children to use the forest around the school to take care of their needs and in some cases some of the children did not come to school for lack of privacy in the use of facilities. The project consisted of installing new doors on the first bank of latrines and re welding the hinges on the second bank of latrines. The slope of the roof was reversed to prevent water from falling into the entrance to the latrines and a new cement walkway installed in front of the latrines. A canal was dug behind the latrines to increase the drainage of water from the area. To finish the project the latrines were painted with an enamel finish inside and outside to facilitate cleaning.
In many of these school situations the community only needs the encouragement and minimal funding to make a major difference in quality of services.  This was the case in Chuche. Once funding and supervision were provided the community and the teachers provided excellent support for the project by way of labor and some funds to extend the roof over the second latrine complex to the left. They also bought some of the paint and painted the latrines.
The conditions in the existing Chuche kitchen were typical for the rural area. The cooking area consisted of three stones to support the pot for cooking the morning mush for the children as part of the government food program. The smoke created in this situation was a major hazard for the cooks and the children helping with the meal. This project includes a new smoke free stove. The village was in the process of building a new kitchen with the help of another institution in another part of the school grounds. This project built a new stove in that location in anticipation of the new kitchen.

CHUCHE STOVE AND KITCHEN	NEW STOVE IN LOCATION WHERE NEW KITCHEN WILL BE BUILT

A final part of the project was to repair the drains and faucets in the lavamano for the school.
	The Kanaquil school was in need of a new lavamano a; repairs to a septic tank; and repairs to existing bathrooms and hand washing station built by the government  some years ago. Installing check valves on supply tank, new plumbing in the flush toilets of the upper school, and a new lid for septic tank with locks sanitary seal.

Bathrooms built by the government are lacking in technical knowledge and Kanaquil is an example of this. The bathrooms are plumbed with pvc tubing inside the concrete walls and the extensions that hold the faucets and valves to the toilets and hand washing stations are soon broken in normal use. The tanks intended to supply water to the flush toilets are not protected by check valves between the school and the village water system and every time the pressure in the village system is low the water in the storage tanks bleeds back into the village water system leaving the toilets without water supply.

The septic tanks connected to the flush toilets do not have diversion tees on their entrances and exits causing solids to fill drain fields and seepage pits.

BROKEN PVC TUBING IN LAVAMANO	PVC DAMAGE INSIDE WALLS

NEW DRAINS AND GALVANIZED PLUMBING IN WALLS OF LAVAMANO IN THE LOWER SCHOOL

NEW LOCKING LIDS WITH SANITARY SEALS ON THE SEPTIC TANK AND SEEPAGE PIT

SANITARY SEAL & NEW DIVERSION "TEES" ON SEPTIC TANK ENTRANCE AND EXIT

A new lavamano was constructed during the projects to facilitate the hygiene instruction at the school. This structure was put into immediate use by the children. Lavamanos facilitate hygiene habits	Lavamanos are multiple use facilities

BEGINNING RING FOR 3 METTER DEEP SEEPAGE PIT FOR LAVAMANO	CONSTRUCTION DETAIL OF LAVAMANO
REPAIRING PLUMBING ON TOILETS
The project in Kanaquil had the added advantage of providing a training ground for the our masons in a variety of design details on various structures.      KANAQUIL SCHOOL CHILDREN DEMONSTRATING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

The project in Janlay consisted of the construction of a lavamano for the school. Peerwater Exchange sent funds for this construction and about $200 extra to be used as we saw fit. The construction of the lavamano was completed efficiently and the funds remaining allowed us to construct a second lavamano at  the Janlay school. The school is constructed on two levels and when we asked the teachers and community how they would like to use the balance of the funds they advise us they would like to have the second lavamano because of the elevation separation in the school and the large  population. The second lavamano is under construction and will be finished by the 18th of Sept.

MULTIPLE USE WATER STATION FOR MORE THAN 300 CHILDREN IN JANLAY BEFORE PROJECT	CONSTRUCTION DETAIL OF JANLAY FERRO-CEMENT LAVAMANO

The project in Pexla Grande funded by Global Water included the construction of a lavamano in the lower school; repairs to two existing lavamanos in the upper school; construction of two school stoves in the upper and lower schools; construction of a new spring capture; and the installation of a new conduction line from the spring to the existing distribution tank. The village contributed the materials for the spring capture and unskilled labor for the other projects. The construction of the new conduction line will be  facilitated by a donation of about 8.5 kilometers of various sizes of pvc tubing donated by Mike Paddock with Engineers Without Boarders. The tubing was left from a large project they were doing in Chimaltenango department. 3.5 km of the tubing was used in Pexla Grande. The balance of the tubing will be used in two other projects in La Libertad and Xesupio in the municipality of Nebaj. Funds are being sought from Water For People to complete these three conduction line projects.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE PEXLA GRAND SPRING CAPTURE	COMPLETED SPRING CAPTURE
NEW STOVE IN THE UPPER SCHOOL WITH PEDRO DE PAZ (LEFT) AND ANTONIO CAVINAL TOMA (RIGHT), THE MASONS FROM NEBAJ WORKING ON THE PEXLA PROJECT
	NEW STOVE IN THE LOWER SCHOOL
PEXLA GRANDE LAVAMANO WORK ON THE SEEPAGE PIT FOR THE LAVAMANO	REPAIRS TO TWO EXISTING LAVAMANOS CONSISTED OF NEW DRAINS, CLEANOUTS, AND FAUCETS