Only 9 days until takeoff.......


The work-plan is finished

The summer work plan is done and in 9 days my summer practicum  

will begin.  This summer, 2012, I will be returning to Guatemala to work in the Northwest Highlands. This area can be seen in the banana yellow color on the map in the picture to the right with the name Huehuetenango. More specifically I will be working in the village of San Sebastian Coatan and surrounding areas. 

The Mission:
The overall mission is improving maternal and child health outcomes in rural, indigenous Mayan communities. The Mayans in this region of Huehuetenango speak the Mayan language known as Chuj. In an effort to achieve the mission we will be assisting in various projects such as maternal and child health data collection and creating a Casa Materna (Maternal Health) Manual, which will act as a guide for surrounding communities who desire to erect a casa materna. However, the main project that I have been assigned will involve an effort to improve maternal and child health outcomes in the region through a water, sanitation and hygiene project.  This involves educating the community on the importance of hand hygiene, but also building had washing stations, that provide the necessary resource of clean water.   


I will do my best to do at least a weekly post on this blog. However, given a lack of various infrastructures in Guatemala, the fact that it is rainy season, the presence of active volcanoes, and shaky shaky earthquakies one never knows what to expect. I hope to bring you all some funny stories and happenings of my Summer 2012 experience in Guatemala. Thank you very much for following my blog and I look forward to posting soon.  :)