As part of the Aktion Deutschland Hilft project aimed to reduce the effects of the El Niño phenomenon in Chiquimula, Guatemala, ASB distributed water filters to families, rural schools and a health post.

224 filters were distributed, beneficiating over 112 families directly (two filters handed out per family) and a couple more indirectly. Water filters were also distributed to schools and a health post to ensure safe water reached students and patients, as well as preventing diseases provoked by unclean water.

“We used to drink really muddy water, since we collected it from the river or from communal wells, […] We would also gather it from rain. Now we drink it crystal clear.” Mario Mendoza told Sonia, an ASB-humanitarian worker from Central America. “Now, thanks to the project, the beneficiaries will be able to provide safe water to their families without getting diarrhea, which is the most common disease they got from water.”

A community health post amidst the mountains

Located in the fork between two of three communities attended by the ADH project, the Shalaguá health post attends and aids most of the families living in the aforementioned community in Chiquimula, despite being almost in the middle of nowhere.

The health post has one particularity, though: patients are only allowed to come and go on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. With a populace subsisting only out of staple foods, such as beans and corn, the Shalaguá health post counts with a meager three clinical rooms for the medical attention of its patients. There is no doctor, however: only a professional nurse handles major affairs within the post. Despite the lack of a basic healthcare system, the nurse strives to cure and maintain his patients safe and sound, nonetheless.

In order to provide and cover basic health needs, ASB distributed simple health equipment such as basic furniture, sterilizers, wages and basic medicine (used in common diseases such as the flu, fever, infections and common stomach diseases) to the health post in Shalaguá, Chiquimula.

ASB also implemented infrastructural improvements to the health post: The entire drinking water system was improved in each of the clinical rooms to ensure the quality and hygiene of patient care.

“This health post is the closest one to families living in more than five small communities in Shalaguá. […] The next health institution is over an hour away.” Explains Alejandro Zurita – Regional Director for ASB Central America. “I´ve been working in Chiquimula for the past ten years, […] the drought has affected the region pretty hard.”

The head nurse expressed his gratitude to receive aid for the health post, for it improved the quality of the care and hygiene of his patients, as well as the quantity of how many patients get treated per day. However, the fight continues, since the Shalaguá health post does not receive help permanently.