Pueblo a Pueblo

Pueblo a Pueblo is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve access to healthcare, education and sustainable livelihoods in rural coffee-growing communities in Guatemala through integrated community and school-based programs. We believe that these three focus areas are interdependent prerequisites to communities’ long term economic development. Pueblo a Pueblo operates in multiple communities around Lake Atitlán, Sololá, to deliver a continuum of integrated services to support maternal and child health, child education, and food and economic security.
We have various goals in collaboration with indigenous Tz’utujil and Kaqchikel communities in the Lake Atitlán region. We work towards expanding access to primary school education and literacy, improving sanitary conditions in rural public schools, improving nutrition and dietary diversity in children and their families, improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes among women and children, and improving the economic stability of families. Projects are designed, developed, and implemented through strategic partnerships with local government, community based organizations, and public schools, to ensure they appropriately respond to local needs, support capacity building, and promote long-term project sustainability. Pueblo a Pueblo manages four core programs: Women’s Right to Health, Child Education Support, School Health and Nutrition, and Sustainable Livelihoods.

The three main pillars of our strategic approach in implementing our programs are: capacity building, sustainability, and community-driven projects. We build capacity by fostering leadership and providing communities with the tools, skills, and knowledge they need to improve their own lives. We ensure sustainability by equipping communities with the capacity to continue implementing projects independently. We ensure that our programs are community-driven by designing our programs according to local priorities and realities and by creating relationships based on mutual commitment, respect, and understanding.
We apply these principles internally as well as externally. Given that 80% of our staff are Guatemalan and 73% are from the Atitlán region of the country, our team is very knowledgeable about the culture and needs of the rural communities that we serve. Our leadership structure is designed to give local staff the opportunity to take on coordinator and manager roles over time in order to build capacity within our organization. This allows us both to invest in our local staff members and to minimize our dependence on outside consultants in the administration of our projects.
We focus on working in collaboration with local schools, leaders, and government institutions when implementing our projects. We use education as a means of equipping project partners to advocate for themselves and their communities, which also increases our projects’ sustainability. Every donation of economic or material support we make is accompanied by some form of education to multiply its effects. For example, we hold parenting workshops for the families of students who receive our scholarships, we train teachers and librarians in the effective use of library resources donated by Pueblo a Pueblo, and we equip peer health educators to lead workshops for women in their own communities, among other things.

The President of our Board of Directors, along with the Board members, undertakes decisions such as the annual review of our three-year strategic plans. We also undergo an external review of our finances by a legal and accounting services firm. Board meetings are held quarterly to ensure continuous communication and feedback.
Pueblo a Pueblo is managed by our Guatemala Director of Programs. A team of 11 full-time staff and one volunteer support our operations. Program Managers are responsible for overseeing projects that fall under their programmatic area. Project Coordinators support individual projects. We also rely on the local knowledge and expertise of our Project Technicians and Educators who assist with the practical implementation of projects and training. 9 of our 11 staff members are Guatemalan. Of those 9, 8 are from the Sololá region where we work and speak Tz’utujil or Kaqchikel, the most spoken languages across our partner communities. We maintain a staff member dedicated to outreach and communications and a staff member dedicated to monitoring & evaluation and grants. We partner with other non governmental organizations, as well as governmental, such as the Ministry of Education, to implement out programs. This enables us to assess our collective impact, cull lessons learned across individual projects, build on synergies across programmatic areas, and effectively articulate an evidence-based platform for our work.

The Child Education Support program supports students academically through two projects: the Pathways to Literacy project and our Primary Educational Scholarships project. Pueblo a Pueblo’s Pathways to Literacy project aims to improve the reading and writing skills of the students at our partner schools by supporting the installation and management of school libraries and by working with educators to develop interactive literacy programs. Our Primary Education Scholarships project sponsors students by providing scholarships that cover all inscription fees as well as necessary school materials, subsidized healthcare, and tutoring services. This year we are sponsoring 94 students across all school levels.
The Women’s Right to Health program aims to improve women’s and children’s health by facilitating access to preventative and curative medicine and by improving access to education and information about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Our Maternal Child Health project aims to achieve this by providing sponsored women and children with subsidized health services and mothers with access to educational workshops on topics related to child development and reproductive health. In 2018 we conducted 27 trainings and worked with 54 people in seven different communities.
An initiative of the Sustainable Livelihoods program, our Beekeeping project strengthens the economic security of local coffee-farming families by providing the tools, training, and support they need to diversify their sources of income. Since 2013, our project has trained 50 beekeepers in five apiaries that have harvested over 7,000 pounds of honey.
Our School Health and Nutrition program works to improve the health and nutrition of primary school-aged children in rural coffee growing communities. Our WASH project aims to improve the health of students in our partner schools by improving access to clean bathrooms and potable water and by promoting hygiene education. In 2018 we conducted nine workshops on hygiene, donated 44 gallons of soap to nine of our partner schools, and distributed over 7,000 packages of toothpaste to over 40 schools. Our School Nutrition project aims to increase dietary diversity and improve the overall nutrition of students in our partner schools. In 2018 we led nutrition workshops with over 90 students and their mothers in five different communities. Our Youth Leadership project aims to improve the health and nutrition of rural communities through youth empowerment. In 2018 we worked with over 30 youth in 5 communities who produced 560 pounds of produce in their organic gardens over the course of the year.
Next year we plan to revamp our Maternal Child Health project to focus more specifically on sponsored children’s health and development during the first 1000 days of life, finish our WASH project in Agua Escondida, and expand our Pathways to Literacy project to a new school. We will also start new youth leadership and beekeeping groups.