WATER OF LIFE GUATEMALA

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1 WATER OF LIFE GUATEMALA

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Access to safe water is a fundamental human need. Yet, more than 780 million people worldwide have no access to an improved water source and every day over 2,200 children die of easily preventable diarrhoeal diseases i. According to the United Nations Development Programme, improvement of drinking water quality would lead to a 45 per cent reduction of diarrhoea episodes worldwide ii. Guatemala has a population of million iii. 53 per cent of Guatemalans live in poverty and 13.5 per cent live in extreme poverty, on under $1.25 a day iv. Characteristic to the region, poverty in Guatemala is complex and multidimensional. Disparities between the urban and rural populations are great. Of the ten leading causes of death in the country, diarrhoeal illness is responsible for almost 4 per cent and causes 7 per cent of infant mortality v. Provision of drinking water services is not regulated by the central government and each municipality has its own system. Of the 331 municipalities in Guatemala, only 24 have drinking water treatment systems, and of these only 15 are in operation. Water sources are contaminated with faecal waste and chemicals, and thousands of children are dying from diarrhoea. The need is particularly acute in rural areas where only 73 per cent have access to piped water, compared to 98 per cent in urban areas vi. In a country with the fourth highest malnutrition rate of children under five in the world, parasites transferred by waterborne contamination are consuming the nutrients children need vii. Compassion's work in Guatemala began in Currently 46,337 children participate in 190 child development centres. Compassion partners with churches around the country to help them provide the children of Guatemala with the opportunity to rise above their circumstances and become all God has created them to be. Compassion Guatemala has identified several challenges that currently hinder the holistic Child Development Programme, including malnutrition, violence, child abuse, poor sanitation, lack of access to medical care, education and unemployment. This RESPOND Initiative aims to provide 650 families who have been identified as at risk from drinking unsafe water with Water of Life filters. Compassion s Water of Life units are based on technology developed for kidney dialysis. Each filter is made up of tiny micro tubes with pores hundreds of times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. These pores remove deadly bacteria and allow only safe water to pass through for drinking. After pouring dirty water into the bucket from piped sources or lakes, rivers, ponds or puddles, the water flows through the filter and comes out completely safe to drink. 2 Interim report for initiative GU

3 ACTIVITY REPORT PROJECTS 5 Compassion child development centres across Guatemala INITIATIVE Compassion Water of Life: the distribution of safe water systems RESPOND NUMBER GU BENEFICIARIES 650 Compassion-assisted children and their families FUNDING 28,250 START DATE Autumn 2014 Compassion Guatemala staff first formed an implementation committee to oversee the initiative. Surveys on hygiene habits were then conducted at each of the beneficiary projects and a qualified instructor was hired. All of the beneficiary caregivers received hygiene and sanitation training in November 2014, covering topics such as water contamination, clean home environments and the importance of hand washing. The survey results guided the instructor as to which issues needed more attention in each community. Attendance of this training was a requirement for all beneficiaries to receive a filter. The local Water of Life distributor was responsible for training project representatives in the use and maintenance of the filters. These volunteers were then responsible to train each family, and will assist in ongoing maintenance. Once the training phase was completed, the distribution began. This was coordinated by the project director from each location and carried out by the local supplier in January and February Each family was given a Compassion Water of Life unit, including: a filter and attached bucket a second bucket to catch the now-safe water in a clean container a syringe that is used for rinsing the filter with safe water Staff at each project will be responsible for monitoring the information gathered from medical check-ups throughout the rest of Staff expect to see a significant reduction in the occurrence of gastrointestinal diseases, resulting in an improvement to general health and nutrition as access to safe water is provided. Home visits to the beneficiaries will be conducted as well, and project staff will perform surveys in order to monitor the use and effectiveness of the Water of Life filters. Challenges Guatemala s geography has been challenging, as the projects are located far away from each other. Many projects also lack specific addresses, and even with GPS coordinates it can be very difficult to get to each one. In most cases, project staff had to meet the distributor and trainer en route to lead them to the project. A major challenge is also the lack of access to water. In some communities, there are no water sources nearby. Water still needs to be collected for the filters to be useful. 3 Interim report for initiative GU

4 Originally, this initiative was aimed at benefitting 650 families in the west part of the country. However the scope was changed to include mothers from the 10 Child Survival Programmes in the country with a greater need for access to safe water. The filters were distributed as follows: Project Project name - location Number of filters GU-897 Cree Student Centre 85 GU-917 La Semilla Student Centre 85 GU-459 El Buen Samaritano Student Centre 120 GU-CS1 Canaan Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS2 Lluvias de Gracia Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS3 La Semilla Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS4 Niños del Carpintero Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS5 La Familia Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS6 Rayos de Esperanza Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS7 IDEC Jesús es el Rey Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS8 Guatemala Child Survival Programme 36 GU-CS9 Bezaleel-Col. Trinidad Chipati Child Survival Programme 36 GU-C10 Sendaro de La Verdad Child Survival Programme 36 LONG-TERM IMPACT The life-long effectiveness of Compassion Water of Life means that the units have huge health, educational and economic benefits for the Compassion-assisted children and their families. When children are healthy they can go to school and receive the skills required to secure stable employment. By giving children sustained protection from diarrhoea, they will be less at risk from malnutrition and stunting. Safe water will mean that a family needs fewer resources to treat illness; over a lifetime this financial saving could be significant. WHY COMPASSION WATER OF LIFE? The unit provides safe water for life. With occasional rinsing, Compassion Water of Life lasts a lifetime - each filter is capable of filtering 1 million gallons of water and a child is expected to only need 14,600 gallons in their lifetime. The filter effectively eliminates cholera, typhoid, E. coli, amoebic dysentery, botulism, streptococcus, salmonella, and many other bacterial contaminants. Compassion Water of Life units are easy to set-up and maintain. A new system can be installed and ready to use in five minutes and with simple maintenance, Compassion Water of Life never needs replacing. When the water stops flowing the filter only needs to be rinsed - a process that takes less than a minute. The Compassion Water of Life units have been proven and tested by doctors, the United Nations and other NGOs. They remove 99.9 per cent of bacterial contaminants in water. PREVIOUS INITIATIVES In February 2013, Compassion implemented Water of Life for the first time in Guatemala. 1,000 filters were distributed to families in 6 projects around the country. After the distribution of filters and training, project staff found that: 95 per cent of families were using the filters. 87 per cent of the families were keeping the filter in a proper place and storing the water in clean containers. 80 per cent of families were washing their hands before eating, after using the bathroom and when dirty. There was a reduction in gastrointestinal diseases; by 54 per cent in one project and 100 per cent in another. 4 Interim report for initiative GU

5 650 families received hygiene training on the importance of using purified water Some of the beneficiary families with their new Water of Life filters 5 Interim report for initiative GU

6 Mothers attended the hygiene training and participated in various ways All attendants received printed materials to take home from the hygiene training 650 families have received the Water of Life filters and are using this blessing in their homes 6 Interim report for initiative GU

7 BUDGET ITEM GRANT REQUESTED GRANT SPENT GRANT REMAINING 650 water filters 20,116 20, drill bits Travel expenses ( 317 local contribution) - - Sanitation and hygiene instructor Sanitation and hygiene training 1,146 1, Unforeseen expenses Administration 5,650 5,650 - TOTAL 28,250 ( 317 local contribution) 27, The cost for purchasing a unit, transporting it to a family, and giving them training on the proper use of it is This RESPOND Initiative will therefore enable 650 Compassion children and their families to benefit from Compassion s Water of Life programme. The unit price also covers the time needed for Compassion staff to monitor and manage the initiative. FINAL REMARKS Thank you for funding this RESPOND Initiative. Compassion Guatemala will continue monitoring the use and effectiveness of the Water of Life units until early If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mark Preston on or at MarkP@compassionuk.org. i WHO & UNICEF, 2012, Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Joint Monitoring Programme ii UNDP, 2005, Health, Dignity and Development: What Will it Take? Earthscan, London. iii UNDP, Human Development Reports, Guatemala. Available from: hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/gtm iv UNICEF, Country Statistics: Guatemala. Available from: unicef.org/infobycountry/guatemala_statistics.html v WHO and UN partners, Country statistics and global health estimates. Available from: vi JMP, 2014, Guatemala: Estimates on the use of Water Sources and Sanitation Facilities ( ). Available from: vii World Food Programme, Guatemala: Overview. Available from: wfp.org/countries/guatemala/overview 7 Interim report for initiative GU