Cristian\nworked with Water For People and a local development agency to change these\nrealities for his students. His small school was able to build toilets and\nhandwashing stations, as well as learn how to treat wastewater. But just as\nimportant as these new facilities was the curriculum Cristian and other\nteachers incorporated to make sure students understood the importance of using\nthe facilities. <\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.waterforpeople.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Practicando-el-Lavado-de-manos-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\"With the\ntraining provided to us, we were taught to tackle hygiene education in a\nplayful, innovative, and creative way,\" Cristian says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the\nmethods the school utilizes is Hygiene Corners \u2013 a place in each classroom\ndedicated to learning about healthy hygiene practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hygiene\nCorners include resources aimed at reminding students of the importance of\nhygienic habits. In addition to storing toothbrushes, soap, towels, and nail\nclippers, the corners include a hygiene wheel that has drawings of hygienic\nhabits \u2013 washing hands, brushing teeth, combing hair, clipping nails, and more.\nSeveral days a week, the teacher asks students to spin the wheel to determine\nwhich hygiene habit they\u2019ll address in class that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"With the\nHygiene Corners, we\u2019ve helped the students\u2019 hygiene improve, which has improved\ntheir self-esteem and even helped them avoid bullying,\" Cristian says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cristian\nsays the new facilities have decreased absences at the school and students\nquickly started coming to school with better hygiene habits \u2013 such as washing\nhands before eating and after using the bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.waterforpeople.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Anastasia-Elvira-Lux--1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nMarta is a fifth-grader at the school, and although timid to speak, she is sure of the impact of the changes at her school. \"I really like how my school is now. I have learned to use the toilet, about staying clean, and why it is important to wash your hands,\" she says. Before, Marta says she would often have stomach pain from drinking contaminated water, but now the stomachaches have disappeared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"I talk with\nmy mom about all these things that happen at school and the things the teachers\nteach us,\" Marta says. It has led to her mother to also practice safer hygiene\nhabits, including using their household\u2019s toilet and boiling water to make sure\nit is safe for them to drink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Before, I\ndidn\u2019t like the school as much,\" Marta says. \"Now, I feel happy because it\nlooks nice and is so clean.\" <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even in these furthest, hard-to-reach corners of Guatemala, students like Marta can now count on access to reliable water and sanitation, and they\u2019re promoting the importance of these new services to their families and community \u2013 helping guarantee water and sanitation will be around and utilized Forever. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The community of Pachoj in Guatemala is 15 miles from the nearest town and challenging to get to \u2013 in the rainy season the trek to this tiny town can include more than a mile of walking along muddy roads that often become unpassable for cars. Because access to the town is so difficult, Pachoj lacks basic services like drinking water, sanitation, and electricity. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guatemala","category-hygiene","category-sanitation","category-schools","category-stories","category-water"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.waterforpeople.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Guatamela-hygiene-corner-1-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.waterforpeople.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Guatemala02_SantaCruz_Lagunitas_20190626-60-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.waterforpeople.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Guatemala-SantaCruzdelQuiche-201703-55-684x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"little](\"http:\/\/www.waterforpeople.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Honduras_SchoolFabianpic_1000x1500-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"