Connect the Hearts is proud to be in partnership with Adelante Juntos (Forward-Together) in providing aid and assistance to under-served and impoverished Guatemalan communities. The goal is to help these communities meet their basic human needs and improve the living conditions of their families, especially in the areas of Water, Sanitation and Health (WSH), as well as supporting childhood education.

Phase 1 – Completed – Connect the Hearts joined other volunteers in February 2024 in installing 100 high-efficiency stoves and distributing water filters to help combat the two leading causes of death and morbidity in women and children in Guatemala, respiratory disease due to inhalation of smoke from open fires and gastro-intestinal illnesses caused, in part, by drinking contaminated water.

Phase 2 – Completed November 2024

In November 2024 Connect the Hearts went back to Guatemala to aid a third community in need. Las Peñas is a community of 31 families in extreme poverty, surviving on subsistence farming. At 6,000 ft in elevation, Las Peñas is very difficult to get to. Mud roads and no guardrails is takes over 2 hours in a 4×4 from the town of Jalapa. Connect the Hearts and Adelante Juntos installed smokeless stoves and water filtration buckets in all the homes in Las Peñas as well as 33 water storage tanks in Los Cebollines on this second visit to Guatemala.

Supporting the development of a well-based source of water to the colonia of Alcoba, whose only source of water is a natural spring. This year’s effort will include the design and development of the large holding tank located at the highest point in the community.

Phase 3 – Planning – August 2025

Last month we went back to Alcoba and Las Penas not only to check on the previously installed smokeless stoves, water filter buckets and water storage tanks, but most importantly to continue with Phase 3.  

Here is a list of Phase 3 projects and approximate costs for each community:

In Las Penas:
Help widen their access road by providing fuel for a machine – 7,000 Quetzales ($960)
Provide material for a double pit toilet for their school – 4,000 Quetzales ($550)
Complete an engineering study to investigate ways to improve water distribution system – 10,000 Quetzales ($1,400)
Material for 26,000 gallon water tank – 240,000 Quetzales ($32,900)
Provide sheeting material to enclose walls of school house – 2,200 Quetzales ($300)

In Alcoba/Lazarete (350 families):
Provide material for the double pit toilet next to their church – 3,300 Quetzales ($500)
Complete an engineering study to bring three-phase power to their new well site – 10,000 Quetzales ($1,400)
Provide material for distribution lines for their water system – 182,500 Quetzales ($25,000)
Provide replacement filters for their water filtration buckets – 17,250 Quetzales ($2,363)

Future phases 4, and 5 – In August we also visited 2 new communities within the town of Jalapa: Las Marias and Concepcion.  Once funds are raised for the projects in Las Penas and Alcoba, we will help these communities to improve their quality of life.

In Las Marias:
Provide 50 smokeless stoves and 50 water filtration buckets ($10,000)

In Concepcion de Maria:
Provide 60 smokeless stoves and 60 water filtration buckets ($12,000)

Phase 6 – Optional – Build a Catholic Church in the village of Las Penas, pending approval, plans, and additional Fund Raising.

You can learn more about our Guatemalan efforts at www.adelante-juntos.org.

Please consider making a donation here.