We visited two villages that have partnered with ALDEA. This first village, Xesajcap has just begun their partnership with ALDEA and will hopefully complete the implementation of all programs by June 2017.
This is the kitchen where this lady cooks over an open flame. Inhaling smoke all day, affecting her life, the lives of her children and her unborn children. I was going to be brave and not be rude and stay to hear what was said.....I lasted MAYBE 30 seconds. My eyes were stinging horribly and my chest was hurting...I had to leave. I couldn't take it. And she spends hours upon hours a day cooking for her family and boiling water for drinking. And her children too....which severely affects their development.
This lady is lucky that her water source is about half a mile from her house. She has to go and get water 4 to 6 times a day. During the dry season, the walk might be further. Going to get water.
I tried but couldn't manage to balance 30 pounds of water on my head. Forget a baby on my back, carrying another jug, in heels and uphill!
She is definitely a pro and an amazing, beautiful, strong woman. I'm a wimp compared to her. I have so much respect and admiration for her! I'm glad to be part of an organization that is helping her, make life easier and healthier for her and her family.
I wonder how many years the lady with the orange container has been making this trek. You know her shoulders, back and legs have to hurt.
This was along the path to the water source. Can you imagine 30 pounds of water on your head, a baby on your back, carrying another jug, maybe pregnant and several other small kids to watch for.
Gathering firewood is another task that is done often to keep the fire going in the kitchen.
Washing clothes.....another need for water.
ALDEA Village - After
ALDEA'S goal is to reduce chronic malnutrition, equip the villagers with life skills to sustain their life. Training is a VERY important component to the success of these villages and they go through a year of training and then another year of monitoring with an ALDEA staff member. This training includes so many things but to name a few, Family Planning, Water Sanitation & Hygiene, Empowering Women, Nutrition and Domestic Violence. Another wonderful thing is the municipality and the men of the village are part of the partnership along with the women, so everyone is on the same page!
The second village is Xepanil and their water system was completed in December 2015. So they are just beginning to see the positive effects of the integration.
This is a kitchen after the new stoves have been installed. This greatly reduces the amount of firewood needed. So fewer trips to find firewood, less money spent on firewood and helps with deforestation. The smoke is vented out so I was able to stay without any problem whatsoever.
Much less firewood needed for these wonderful stoves.
They teach them how to grow a family garden and supply recipes that give the whole family nutritious meals. They are all organic and use water and garlic for bugs and the ash from the stoves is used as a fertilizer.
This is a family garden that ALDEA has taught these families how to grow. The guy in the red shirt is Chico from the municipality of Santa Apolonia. He is part of the team! I love how the Municipality and Villagers work together AND women HAVE to be part of the board!
Ash from the stove for fertilizer.
Garlic water for pest control!
This is a pila which is used to wash clothes, clean dishes, fill pots for cooking and just about anything else that requires water. Now these ladies do not have to make the long trek to get water, or clean their clothes. It's all right here with a turn of the knob right at their house.
This is chlorinated water that the villagers have been trained how to maintain and are responsible for monitoring their water system. Much better than giving it to them. They have pride in the fact they helped build, helped pay for and are responsible for the maintenance.
They are also taught about the filtering system and how to maintain it and are responsible for the maintenance.
They how have latrines and don't have to soil their land around their homes. The sanitation factor goes way up! These are designed to serve a family of 6 for 8 years. Then the structure can be disassembled, moved to a new place, a new hold dug and the latrine rebuilt.
This lady is very proud of her garden and has harvested it three times. And yes Guatemala IS this beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's the land of eternal spring and it was beautiful 72ish very low humidity every day!
When we arrived, the ladies were attending a domestic violence training class. Many cannot read or write so they color pictures with various situations and tell whether the action is appropriate or not. This was not an easy task for some to identify appropriateness. But the training ALDEA has given this community, has empowered these women to identify right from wrong and taught them how to report inappropriate behavior. The men of the village and law enforcement of the village are all on the same page and this is a wonderful shift.
Ladies that are on the board partnering with the municipality, village and ALDEA. Many times they spoke of how blessed they were and gave thanks to God for this wonderful change in their village. They have learned so much about nutrition for their families, family planning and why it's important to space out your children, agriculture and preparing nutritious meals for their families. They also said that with the clean water, their children are not suffering from stomach issues and the rashes they had on their skin are disappearing. They are able to keep the nutritious food in their bodies which leads to much healthier children. One lady also said that their self-esteem is better and they are cleaning their houses more and taking better care of themselves.
Chico from the municipality and the ALDEA team member working with the ladies.
Some really cute girls that were more than happy to pose and giggle for the camera! These girls ranged from 4 to 12. Definitely shows the affects of malnutrition. The oldest girl in the purple in the back was 12. I would have guessed she was about 8 or 9.
Hopefully with the help and training ALDEA has provided her village, that cycle will be greatly reduced.
