HABITAT FOR HUMANITY – GUATEMALA

HUGH WYATT MEMORIAL BUILD

November 2019

This Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip to Guatemala was organized and lead by Max Vandersteen and Angela Southworth. The team was made up of twelve members, mostly from Edmonton Alberta. The build was a memorial build for Hugh Wyatt who passed away in June 2018. All of the team members had been on at least one pervious build with Hugh and Glenda Wyatt.

The work was split between the building of a house right beside the Pan American Highway near  a small town called Chaquijya and building latrines and smokeless stoves for five families who lived in a farming area near the town of San Juan Argueta.  Both Chaquijya and San Juan Argueta are on the Pan American Highway immediately north of Lake Atitlán and are in the Sololá Department in the west of Guatemala.

We stayed in the Hotel Jardines del Lago in Panajachel which is on the north shore of Lake Atitlán. The hotel was on the lake shore so we had a wonderful view of the lake and the volcanoes which surround it when the weather was cooperative. Lake Atitlán is actually a massive volcanic crater and surrounding the lake are the San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán volcanoes. Panajachel is primarily a tourist town with many vendors selling everything from traditional textiles to tacky souvenirs.

Habitat Guatemala

Habitat Guatemala works to improve the quality of life of Guatemalan families through partial or full funding for the construction, improvement and repair of homes across the country. The following is from their published information.

HOME OWNERSHIP MODEL

When building a new home with Habitat Guatemala, families receive a credit of US$6,900 to be used for construction. Repayment occurs over the course of 8 to 12 years with a low interest rate (to account for inflation). All new Habitat homes are made of steel-reinforced concrete block and cement, designed to be resistant to natural shocks and tremors. Corrugated metal sheet roofing keeps the family dry during Guatemala’s brutal rainy season; while houses built in Guatemala’s coldest regions all have wood paneling insulation in the bedrooms to keep the families warm.

SANITARY LATRINE PROJECTS

46% of Guatemalans use an inadequate latrine or no services at all.  Especially in the countryside of Guatemala, there is a need for improved sanitation. In rural areas, latrines are often poorly constructed or in a dysfunctional state. Habitat Guatemala has introduced a sanitary latrine model that safely treats waste. Homeowners quickly note that it doesn’t stink like the old one did. It has an exhaust tube to keep the smell - and diseases - at bay.

SMOKELESS STOVE PROJECTS

Over 90% of rural Guatemalan families use wood as their primary cooking fuel, and most cook using an open fire inside the home or an inefficient stove that consumes vast amounts of firewood.  52% of Guatemalans suffer from respiratory disease.  Every second, Guatemala loses 16 square meters of forest and extreme levels of deforestation have left millions vulnerable to flooding and landslides in a country prone to extreme weather conditions.  Habitat Guatemala Smokeless Stoves are built from adobe blocks, a metal stove top and a metal pipe to ventilate. Smokeless stoves reduce up to 60% of firewood, helping save families save over $700 a year.

WATER FILTER PROJECTS

Most rural areas in Guatemala do not have regular access to potable water and no access to conventional sewage systems. Diseases caused by water contamination are widespread. Guatemala has the highest child mortality rate of the Central American countries, in large part due to the contamination of 95% of Guatemala’s water sources. Habitat Guatemala’s water filter projects use an activated carbon system to purify 5 gallons of water in a 24 hour period.

This trip was my second Habitat Global Village Build in Guatemala. I did not do much traveling outside of the Build area but did see a few interesting people and places during the stay. Visit my Guatemala 2019 page.

To make it easier to view the photos I have divided them into a number of categories.

Following are links to each of the pages:

The House and build site

Upgrade Work (latrines & stoves)

Location 1

Location 2

Location 3&4

Build Dedication

The Team

For more information on Habitat for Humanity click on the following links:

Habitat Canada

Habitat Global Village (Canada)

Habitat Guatemala