The Quiché Project Is Now Successfully Completed
A timeline of the Quiché Project
In May 2015, Water For People and the One Drop Foundation joined forces to empower the Quiché Project by combining their Everyone Forever and A·B·C for Sustainability™ models, respectively. One Drop also integrated its Social Art for Behaviour Change™ (SABC) approach. This collaboration facilitated innovation in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector in Guatemala and elsewhere in Latin America.
In addition to co-financing the project, Water For People worked to ensure that families, schools, and health care facilities in the department of Quiché—where 80–90% of the population belongs to the K'iche' ethnic group—have access to sustainable water and sanitation services.
The Quiché Project, with additional funding from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, has been part of the regional Lazos de Agua Program since 2018. This joint initiative from the Inter-American Development Bank, The Coca-Cola Foundation, FEMSA Foundation, and the One Drop Foundation will provide sustainable WASH access to around 200,000 people in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Paraguay by December 2022.
The Lazos de Agua Program in Guatemala, which wrapped up in December 2020, was rolled out in the municipalities of San Andrés Sajcabajá, San Antonio Ilotenango, San Bartolomé Jocotenango, and Santa Cruz del Quiché. Through the Quiché Project, sustainable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene was facilitated for more than 40,000 people, and over 81,300 people were mobilized towards the continuous practice of key WASH-related behaviours through SABC interventions.
Timeline: from agreement to coverage
Below is a timeline that summarizes key milestones achieved through this joint initiative from 2015, when Water For People and One Drop began their collaboration, up until 2020, the project’s final year. Via videos, audios, graphics, and case studies, the timeline also highlights the project’s achievements and challenges, in addition to offering learnings from the Lazos de Agua Program in Guatemala.
View the interactive timeline (in Spanish)
Let’s take a chronological look at the experiences, challenges, and successes, and give voice to the protagonists of this story of change and sustainable access to WASH.
We expect that the safe practices and lessons learned will be replicated as well as scalable, and that our journey will ultimately lead us to provide WASH services to the communities that need them most.
2015
May 2015: Signing the Quiché Project agreement
Water For People and the One Drop Foundation signed an agreement to integrate the Everyone Forever and A·B·C for Sustainability models into the Quiché Project.
2016
Delivering the first single-family water systems
Given the difficulty of access to water services for dispersed communities, single-family systems were implemented, providing an innovative alternative technology to supply water services to these families.
Monitoring: a key element for budget allocation, improved coverage, and sustainability of water and sanitation services
As part of the Everyone Forever model, an annual monitoring process was implemented in which communities with problematic access to WASH services were identified in an effort to improve investment, coverage, and sustainability.
2017
Institutionalizing the Office of Municipal Water and Sanitation
In 2017, the Office of Municipal Water and Sanitation (OMAS in Spanish) was established in the municipality of San Bartolomé Jocotenango with the support of the Quiché Project, a key contributor to providing sustainable access to WASH services in the municipality.
Social art: from key messages to behaviour change
To optimize the B Component (Behaviour change) of the A·B·C for Sustainability model within an SABC framework, we shifted from developing activities focused on key WASH messages to interventions that addressed three prioritized WASH behaviours in the Quiché Project: handwashing with soap and water during key moments, paying water service tariffs, and building household sanitation facilities.
2018
Everyone Forever in public institutions in San Antonio Ilotenango
In July 2018, in coordination with the municipal authorities, total coverage in water and sanitation services was achieved in public institutions in this municipality, thanks to the Quiché Project and the integration of the Everyone Forever and A·B·C for Sustainability models.
2019
Boom in self-made constructions of WASH facilities
Sanitation coverage was improved and the population was empowered through the self-made construction strategy, a result of the interaction of the Everyone Forever and A·B·C for Sustainability models, the SABC approach, as well as the School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (SWASH) and Community-Led Total Sanitation (SANTOLIC) methodologies.
2020
Closure of Lazos de Agua in Guatemala
By December 2020, the Quiché Project had involved more than 81,300 participants in SABC interventions and provided over 40,000 people with sustainable WASH access. Local institutions and providers of WASH goods and services were strengthened, as were Leaders and Agents of Change. Today, communities are equipped with SABC tools to reinforce the sustainability of the behaviours addressed over the course of the Quiché Project and empowered to keep improving their living conditions.
We are proud to say that the Quiché Project turned water into action in Guatemala.
A Lazos de Agua Project
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