Fundacion Educa Pueblo Viejo

Our mission 
Fundación Educa Pueblo Viejo is to drive community development through social entrepreneurship by building on education, health, nutrition, family planning and the generation of jobs through the creation of businesses.

Our Vision
Be the creators of opportunities so that the families within these communities have access to living their life with dignity, immediate actions that lead to generating job growth and the well-being of their loved ones. We would like to have a global impact with a blueprint that can be replicated in any part of the world so local members of the community don’t feel the need to leave their families and homes behind in search of employment, medical assistance or an education.

We are aware of the greater good that can be achieved when nations join together to obtain a sustainable global economy. We are committed to the 10 guiding principles of the United Nations Global Compact.

Our Causes:

Education

The Challenge

Only 57% of elementary school-aged children attend school in  Guatemala.* In 2015, only 3.1% of Guatemala’s GDP** was designated to go towards education, a low percentage compared to Costa Rica’s 7.36% for the same year. Lack of funds has always been an issue for the Guatemalan Ministry of Education. In 2015 it was estimated that 99% of the Ministry’s budget was destined towards teacher salary pay, leaving little or no resources to build and give maintenance to education infrastructure.

Suitable schools are limited in number in rural areas of the country. They lack basic resources and equipment like chairs, desks, bathrooms, and enough rooms; they also lack the necessary materials to educate the children.

Impact on the Community 

Some of the results we would like to achieve by providing access to suitable schools in Tecpan:

• Increased number of children attending classes regularly

• Higher percentage of children graduating from the sixth grade
• Less children working
• Children with knowledge of  basic health and nutrition will eventually take that knowledge to their homes.

Health

Our goal

To provide low cost access to primary health care and promote better health practices in Tecpan, Guatemala.

The Challenge

The closest low cost healthcare clinic offering primary care services to the community of Tecpan is located about 1 hour (45 kilometers | 28 miles) away. Making the trip to go to a healthcare provider is both time consuming and costly for members of the community. Because of this, many of the members of the community have never seen a doctor or physician and remain skeptical about modern medical practices.

Lack of health care and regular checkups usually leads to children having low probabilities of reaching their integral development standards and individuals developing diseases that result in complications when left untreated. There’s also been a lack of health education in the area; with no access to clinics, the community is uneducated about best health practices and preventative medicine.

Impact on the Community

• An average of 25 patients visit the clinic daily
• Health education programs have been implemented in the schools.
• Broader acceptance of modern medicine practices
• Immediate access to healthcare and medications
• Better knowledge of hygiene and nutrition

Employment

Our goal

To create a space and the necessary conditions to generate job opportunities for the members of the community of Tecpan.

The Challenge

According to the last census, 75% of Tecpan’s economic activity comes from agricultural practices; however, only 2% of the population is qualified to carry out agricultural activities. Furthermore, the census notes how 69% of Tecpan’s population makes a living from informal agricultural practices, leading to an average monthly income of Q500.00 – Q1,000.00 (US$64.75 – US$129,49), a startling comparison, as those working in the remaining 25% earn an average income of Q2,000.00 – Q5,000.00 (US$258.98 – US$647.46).

Impact on the Community

• Provide employment to over 70 members of the community
• Help develop professional skills
• Provide a steady and reliable source of income to over 70 families
• Opportunity for professional growth

Nutrition

As of  2017 The Educa Pueblo Viejo Foundation will have a full time nutritionist.

We believe that many of the problems of malnutrition can be corrected with education.

The foundation through the clinic has detected serious nutritional problems. With this program we intend to strengthen the education and habits of the community.

Objectives of the nutrition program:

• Improve the nutritional status of the most vulnerable groups of infants, preschoolers, schoolchildren, pregnant women and the general population of the Aldea Pueblo Viejo Tecpán focusing on the neediest social groups.
• Promote good eating habits through education.
• Promote the consumption of food products of high nutritional value that are produced in the area.
• Instill in the population the need for periodic medical examinations for children and pregnant woman
• Raise awareness of the nutritional problems of mothers and children, and encourage community participation in solving these problems.

Family Planning

As of 2017 Fundación Educa Pueblo-Viejo will count on a family planning program for the community, as our doctors and in alliance with the organization Pasmo are certified in family  planning, we believe that reproductive health is the first step in the fight against poverty, chronic malnutrition, maternal and child mortality and gender inequality.
Objectives of the family planning program:

• Give indigenous and rural woman and men the opportunity to plan.
• Spacing pregnancies by expanding access to information.
• Increase access to family planning.
• Achieving the well being and empowerment of woman.
• Preventing pregnancy related health risks in woman.
• Give the woman the ability to decide if she wants to be pregnant and at what time
• Have a direct impact on  health and well being.
• Postpone pregnancies  in young woman and avoid the risk of dying from premature procreation.
• Prevention of HIV and AIDS: Reduces the risk of unwanted pregnancies in HIV-infected women.
• Lower population growth; Family planning is the key to reducing unsustainable population growth and its negative effects on the economy, the environment and national and regional efforts to achieve development.
• Prevents unwanted pregnancies, including those of older women, for whom the risks associated with pregnancy are greater. It also allows women to decide the number of children they wish to have.
• Women with more than four children have been found to be at an increased risk of maternal death.
• Teenager who become pregnant are more likely to give birth to a child with preterm or low birth weight. The children of adolescents have higher rates of neonatal mortality.
• There will be family planning missions once a month
• DIU insertion and contraceptive methods will have a low cost .