Central America – Schools Water, Sanitation and Hygiene plus Community Impact is a pilot schools project in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. It is MWA’s first regional program and was launched early in 2008. Central America – Schools Water, Sanitation and Hygiene plus Community Impact focuses its work in 46 municipalities within the four countries targeting 146 schools and over 15,000 students. The initiative builds upon experience and established relationships of three MWA partners: CARE, Catholic Relief Services and Water for People. Working with local communities, municipalities and ministries, the technologies employed include gravity fed schemes with chlorination, hand-washing facilities and flush latrines. The communities are closely involved in project design and implementation so that the approach can be replicated beyond the initial target areas.
Read more: MWA’s Success in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras
Water supply, sanitation and hygiene education services and support, must be thought of holistically – not as individual and isolated developmental components. The program is based on best practices and includes capacity building efforts that enhance the prospects for school- and community-level sustainability, extensive monitoring and evaluation support, and a concern for documentation that will highlight the approach’s strengths and weaknesses. The intervention is also designed to maximize the exchange of ideas and experiences across the four countries, thus enhancing prospects for regional replication and scale-up. Schools provide an excellent entry point to community water, sanitation and hygiene interventions. They often serve hundreds of students at a time and can also be a source of broader change in the community and family. The objectives of the program include
- Increasing access to sustainable safe water in directly targeted schools and communities
- Improving hygiene behaviors, particularly hand washing, in students and teachers at directly targeted schools and communities
- Increasing access to improved sanitation facilities at directly targeted schools and increase demand for sanitation in the communities where schools are located
Stakeholders in Central America – Schools Water, Sanitation and Hygiene plus Community Impact include the Ministries of Education, Health, Water, Families, and Rural Development of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Departmental level officials of these Ministries are actively involved, as well as municipal governments and local school district officials. Local NGO’s are involved in Guatemala and Honduras. Community organizations actively involved in the program include school boards, water boards and development boards, which are composed of beneficiaries and parents of beneficiaries of the program. Teachers are a key to the success of the program and are also direct beneficiaries.
The US $1.24 M Central America – Schools Water, Sanitation and Hygiene plus Community Impact program, supported by a direct grant from the Global Water Challenge of USD 650,000 and additional funds from MWA’s partners, was launched in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in February 2008. Infrastructure works at 143 of the 146 Central America – Schools Water, Sanitation and Hygiene plus Community Impact targeted schools have been completed. A promotional brochure and a learning newsletter have been developed and disseminated regionally. An additional $2m, one-year proposal for IDB and the Coca-Cola Foundation to fund 150 schools in 2010 in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua is currently being negotiated.
