Our Crowdfunding Groups
Create sanitary water access for a rural, mountainous community in Huite, Guatemala. Currently, families are rationed 10 gallons of water per day, which often goes to cooking and drinking.The women walk hours uphill to the nearest river to do necessary chores. Because of this difficulty with sanitation, health issues, such as skin conditions, are prevalent.
We need your help to raise the $15,000 required to complete this project! Every dollar donated is tax deductible and goes directly to project and technical advisor costs. All team members pay for their own travel and in-country expenses ensuring every dollar donated goes directly to the project. In addition, all materials will be bought from local vendors to help stimulate the economy and spread the word about the project throughout the region.
Do you have technical knowledge or skills that you think could be beneficial to our project? Are you an engineer or technical expert that could advise the team? We would love to have you assist us with feedback on our designs! Please email us at guatemala.puc2016@gmail.com
Projects with Under-Served Communities (PUC) is a hands-on service-learning program at the University of Texas that is collaboratively run by the International Office, the Cockrell School of Engineering, and the School of Social Work. Through PUC, engineering and social work students are placed in the same classroom to exercise their diverse skill sets in an effort to plan and implement a project in an international community.
We are Team Guatemala, a determined group of eight students who are collectively majoring in social work and six different engineering practices. Our mission is to improve sanitation and decrease health issues in Aldea Santa Cruz in order to build a better, more sustainable future for the community members. We will do this by working with the community and a local NGO, Asociación Proyecto 1 (AP1), to increase the community’s access to clean water.
UT Liability Disclaimer:
No University of Texas at Austin student, faculty, or staff can be required to travel to a Restricted Region (http://world.utexas.edu/risk/restrictedregions). Any participation in travel to a Restricted Regions is strictly voluntary, and the participant assumes full responsibility for all risks associated with this travel.
As a condition of Participant’s involvement with or participation in the program activities, the Participant will release, waive, discharge, and agree to hold harmless the University of Texas at Austin from all liability arising out of or in connection with Participant’s involvement with and/or participation in the program activities at Projects with Under-Served Communities Guatemala. Participants of all Projects with Under-Served Communities Guatemala programs must acknowledge that the country/countries in which the Projects with Under-Served Communities Guatemala program activities may take place in whole or in part, or any other country through which the Participant may travel when involved with and/or participating in the program activities, or while in route to or from the program activities, may have health and safety standards substantially below those enjoyed in the United States. Participant must further acknowledge the inherent hazardous and dangerous nature of the program activities as well as the above-referenced risks of participating in the program activities or in traveling to, through or from the country/countries in which the program activities will take place, and must agree to assume all risk of illness, injury, or death from Participant’s travel to or from the program activities and participation therein.
Repairing broken water spigots can restore access to water for a section of the community.
Building benches will allow the women to wait for a spot to open or visit with neighbors.The pila acts not only as a source of sanitation, but also a site of social enrichment for the women of the community.
Using waterproof sealant to paint the pila will prevent water and humidity from threatening the structural integrity of the concrete.
Using rebar in the foundation will make the pila more structurally sound and prevent it from cracking and leaking like the current structure.
Installing piping to carry the dirty water away from the pila is important to avoid health risks and negative impacts on the environment.
A functioning pila is the foundation of sanitation in the community. Being able to wash clothes and cookware can prevent harmful skin conditions and bacterial infections.
A roof will provide shade for people using the pila, in addition to keeping out leaves, animal waste, and other debris from the trees above that could contaminate the source of water in the pila.
Expanding the piping from the water source to Aldea Santa-Cruz will allow more water to flow to the community, increasing access to water.
