The new communities:
"El Triunfo", Champerico.

A sure sign that life is returning to some normality for the 300 or so families who live in "El Triunfo" community are the groups of children scrambling over a football in the hot dusty earth after school finishes. The same school children recently had their first chance at painting, when their teachers suggested they adorn the dull grey walls of the newly installed school latrines. "We painted quetzales (the Guatemalan national bird) because we'd seen them in the mountain forests," says shyly 12-year-old Dolores Mejia Sica. Others drew mountains and rivers. One little boy painted a brown-coloured helicopter - a poignant reminder of the years their families spent living under the threat of persecution from the army in the northern highlands. The next school project is to carry out a reforestation project for the community, planting trees around their houses. Thus, the children will gain first hand experience of what protecting the environment means, at the same time as improving their community.

"El Triunfo" was purchased for the CPR communities in mid-1998 and resettled in September of the same year. It was the second property successfully negotiated with the Guatemalan government. A former cotton estate, located in the fertile lowlands of the Pacific coast, it was thick with undergrowth when its new inhabitants first arrived after the long journey down south. Worse still, their arrival coincided with the rainy season, which meant thick sticky mud underfoot, and flooding everywhere. The sudden change in temperature from the cold climate of the highlands to the humidity of the coastal region also brought immediate sickness - including malaria, which the peasants had never known before. "We came here because we needed somewhere permanent to live - and although it has been hard, this land is ours," comments community leader Mercedes Utuy. "But now, almost two years on, it almost looks like a little town of its own," she adds proudly and says

"Progress has been made thanks to the hard work of resilient villagers" and this is confirmed by the coordinator of the project "The community contributed thousands of days of work consisting of non-specialised manual labour for the construction of the houses and the installation of drinking water systems. They worked very hard. Without their organisation and active participation it wouldn't have been possible to achieve the objectives which we set ourselves for humanitarian aid". The temporary shelters given initially by ECHO were half destroyed by hurricane 'Mitch' which affected region.

 OXFAM GB carried out a feasibility study prior to reconstructing the houses. Now rows of houses line the streets which are divided into sectors. They are constructions which measure 52.51 square metres in which prefabricated cement has been combined with bamboo. The design of the houses by the architect Douglas Ortiz reflects a study of the textiles used by the indigenous people which are incorporated in the constructions. In the same way the concrete slabs were given a special finish with a texture which resembles that of the textiles and incorporates designs which themselves have a special socio-cultural significance. The idea of decorating the facades of the houses with designs similar to those of the textiles woven and used by the women helped strengthen the peoples sense of identity and gave them a sense of belonging in an area completely different from the communities where they were born. 

Furthermore, each house has water, a latrine and a wood-saving cooking stove installed by FIS (the Fund for Social Investment), thus making household tasks easier. 

The success of the project can be felt immediately; the residents identify themselves fully with their houses of which the couple (man and woman) are co-proprietors. The fact that women have access to property assures them of full rights as members of the community. The contribution of ECHO and OXFAM GB has improved the quality of family life and the physical and mental health of the members of the community.
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. Many people have sown fruit and vegetables in small plots by the side of their new homes, another sign that life is resuming its normal cycles. The produce is mainly for the families' own consumption, but with the town only a short bus ride away, any surplus goes to the market for sale. "It's not like when we were in the mountains, and had to walk two days to the nearest community," Mercedes points out. As a single mother trying to bring up five children on her own - her husband died in the mountains - the close proximity of the main road is important. "It's so much easier here, since if I want to go to the town market to sell the road is just over there," she says.

Among the other eye-catching features of this newly developing community is the water tank, distributing drinking water to all the households, the public wash-houses which make womens work easier and the local health clinic, equipped with solar power panels and an array of spotless medical equipment. All these factores have been crucial in combating the spread of disease among the newly arrived, as well as staving off other malaises affecting the area. Health promoter Domingo Alvarez proudly tells of how the community side-stepped a recent cholera epidemic that hit the other villages situated on either side of "El Triunfo." "We organised all our health promoters, sent them out to tell everyone to boil their water and wash the fruit and vegetables brought in from outside, and didn't have one single case of cholera on our hands," he remarks. 

The promoters received some basic first aid experience in the mountains, but also were given 9 months training under the ECHO-Oxfam GB project. During an initial period after the resettlement, a doctor was also on hand to give consultations and pass on his valuable knowledge to the promoters. Now, given the experience of its staff and the well-stocked resources at the clinic, the community has agreed to open up the facilities to other peasants who live in the surrounding villages, Domingo says. They now give up to 30 consultations a day, and even have time to run campaigns in the community to encourage people not to drop rubbish and to use the latrines responsibly and keep them clean.