Update #5 Aqua Caliente
Submitted by Gene Medina,
More Eco Toilets for Aqua Caliente: Rotary’s continuing work in Lake Izabel area, GuatemalaAqua Caliente is a medium size village of approximately 300 families on base of the foothills of Lake Izabel in eastern Guatemala. It is about 20 miles from Rio Dulce, a hurricane hole for sailboats and other seacraft. Most of the men work either in the sugar cane fields below or on the road construction project in the area. The women take care of the children and maintain their homes. The average family has 4 children, with a range of one to eight children. Microfinance has yet to evolve here but with the completion of the eco toilets project, we will be expanding our focus to community and economic development.
For the past several years, our Rotary partners (Sequim and Bainbridge Island) have been installing working to improve the living and sanitation conditions in Aqua Caliente. Forty-five (45) eco toilets have been installed and a new global grant (2013-14) is currently funding the construction of 80, more, which will be completed by next month. Following completion of this grant, we will be implementing a third global grant, which will fund the final set of 22 in 2014-15. It is projected that this initial phase of water and sanitation work will be completed by spring, 2016.
Central to these grants is the requirement of village council members and heads of households, including family members, to make a commitment to actively engage in the project:
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You see here a few photos of the improvements: (1) eco toilet under construction
(4) garden with the gardeners.
Assist with the labor associated with construction of the eco toilets.
Attend a series of community workshop about (1) hygiene and sanitation practices, (2) methods of construction, use and maintenance of eco toilets, (3) methods of maintaining a sanitary home and practice hygienic and healthy behaviors, (removal of any human or animal feces near the home, washing hands after using the toilet, and children wearing foot war (4) the drying and storage of waste, and preparation of waste as fertilizer, and
Developing and maintaining eco gardens using the approved fertilizer.
Attend a series of community workshop about (1) hygiene and sanitation practices, (2) methods of construction, use and maintenance of eco toilets, (3) methods of maintaining a sanitary home and practice hygienic and healthy behaviors, (removal of any human or animal feces near the home, washing hands after using the toilet, and children wearing foot war (4) the drying and storage of waste, and preparation of waste as fertilizer, and
Developing and maintaining eco gardens using the approved fertilizer.
You see here a few photos of the improvements: (1) eco toilet under construction(2) inside a toilet,
(3) a typical hut home (see above) and
(4) garden with the gardeners. In the next update, Update #6 we will visit Cuarto Cayos, the last of our Rio Dulce project villages. It is important to know there are five additional villages requesting future support and eco toilets.