Community Life:
- La Trompeta was founded 55 years ago by four Maya Kaqchikel families. Since then, the village has grown to 175 families.
- The community grew very quickly, with several families comprised of 6-10 or even up to 14 members, but many of the children and women died because of poor conditions and lack of access to resources.
- The village is located almost nine miles from the county seat of Patzún. The community has always had very strong committees. As a result, 75 percent of their road is paved.
- The first infrastructure built in La Trompeta was its primary school, which still offers education from pre-school through sixth grade. Construction started in 1974, and the school was completed in 1980 (the project was delayed by the 1976 earthquake damage).
- La Trompeta’s name comes from its borders, which form the shape of a trumpet. The land where the village is located was originally a farm named “La Trompeta.”
- For medical services, people need to travel 1.25 miles to the village of El Sitio. The community does not have access to public transportation, so villagers have to walk.
- There’s no access to safe water in La Trompeta. Some families do have artesian wells and others go to a river nearby to wash their clothes and take a bath. Unfortunately the river is contaminated by the other communities upstream.
- The community has had electricity service for 28 years.
- The families from La Trompeta are mainly engaged in subsistence agriculture, producing corn and beans for their own consumption, without a surplus that they can sell.
Our Partnership:
We began working with La Trometa in July 2015 and completed our direct programs together in June 2017.
Integrated Approach to Development: La Trompeta’s Progress to Date
- Community Mobilization and Empowerment: Complete
- Nutrition: Complete
- Water, Sanitation & Hygiene: Unfortunately, there is no available water source for the the community of La Trompeta due to their location. The rest of the sanitation components are complete.
- Food Security (Sustainable Agriculture): Complete
- Family Planning: Complete
- Disaster Risk Reduction: Complete
See more about how we work in our partner communities
Community Perspectives:
“My family has lived in poverty for a long time but now we know that being poor is not a reason for malnourishment of my 6 children. I still cook over an open fire and my children and I suffer the effects of the smoke. My husband is a day laborer but does not always get a job. The worst problem we suffer is the lack of water.
Thanks to the training we get from ABPD/ALDEA staff, now we know how to feed our children appropriately, the importance of hygiene and about our rights as women.”
– Vitalina Xico, 38 (August 2015)
