The Guatemala Project
BACKGROUND
The country of Guatemala is located in Central America right below Mexico. While being the most populated country in Central America, it is also one of the poorest countries in Latin America with more than half of the population below the national poverty line. The Guatemala team of EWB-Auburn works by designing and constructing drinking water systems for Guatemalan communities. The Guatemala team has worked in the communities of Saloj, Xeo, and Parramos Grande. The team implemented a water system for Saloj in August 2022 and Xeo in May 2024.
SALOJ
The first project in Guatemala was based in Saloj, a small community in the Sololá Department along the Pan-American Highway. There were 40 families (250 beneficiaries) without access to water infrastructure, and most of the families spent approximately 20% of their weekly income to purchase barreled water. The team took on the project of designing and constructing a gravity-fed drinking water system for Saloj in October 2021. The main goals for the team were to implement a drinking water system that could deliver affordable, easily accessible, safe drinking water to the community. The team constructed the system in August 2022, bringing water from a spring 3-km away from the community to the 40 houses. The Chapter traveled back to Saloj in August 2023 to monitor and evaluate the system performance and close-out the project.
XEO
After implementing the water system in Saloj, the team sought out another project to work on. Xeo is a rural community located approximately 20-km north of Nebaj. Xeo was inhabited by 163 families (1,100 people) and lacked water infrastructure to supply water to all community members. During the assessment of Xeo in summer 2023, the team surveyed community members and collected geospatial, water quality, flow rates of the spring, and other pertinent data that was be used for creating the design. In May 2024, the Guatemala team implemented a new drinking water distribution system for the community that now supplies drinking water to the community. The team plans on going back to Xeo in the summer of 2025 to monitor and evaluate the system.
Current Project: Parramos Grande
Parramos Grande is a community of 96 families (528 people) close to Xeo who lack a sufficient drinking water supply system. The Guatemala team is currently planning out and designing a new drinking water system for the community of Parramos Grande. The Guatemala team briefly did an assessment trip of the community in May 2024 and will do a more full assessment trip in the summer of 2025. The Chapter is currently planning on constructing the system in the summer of 2026. The project will include designing and building a new concrete reservoir tank, several new pressure breaking tanks, and a new distribution system to supply water to all 96 families.
Media
Our chapter was honored to have been selected by the College of Engineering for Tiger Giving Day 2022. Our Guatemala project was specifically selected to be sponsored on February 23 with a goal to raise $10,000 for our project. We are incredibly thankful to the College of Engineering, the Auburn family, and all of our donors for their continued support which allows for our students and faculty to truly change the lives of the Saloj community.