In the past year, Henkel volunteers and “HELPS International” helped to improve many homes in Santa Clara La Laguna, the small mountain village in Guatemala.

We wanted to…

…provide families with access to clean water

…improve the education and health standard of the children both at home and at school

…provide participating families with basics in hygiene and healthcare

…reduce timber fuel consumption

…improve agricultural productivity

What have we achieved until today? 

Home Transformation

90 out of 120 families were provided with cement floors, white-washed walls, water filters and closed cooking stoves with chimneys. The remaining 30 families will receive this equipment before the end of 2010. The fire wood reduction of up to 70% will save 1500 trees per year, a sustainable success for the environment!

Corn Program

In 2010, 48 families will participate in the corn program, including technical accessory, fertilizer and training for the small farmers. The program will last three years, and will be supported by “HELPS International” staff. The fields we worked on this year already show big differences to the surrounding fields not participating in the program.

Health Care Program

A small medical center opened in Santa Clara. A doctor from “HELPS International” is working at minimum one week a month. During the rest of the month, HELPS employees visit the families and teach them in hygiene and health care. This program will run for several months to guarantee a sustainable result.

Stoves and filters for public schools

Many public schools have already received proper cooking stoves for the small meal served during the day to all kids, and water filters to guarantee clean water. More schools will be incorporated soon.

Workshop “Washing”

In April 2010, Henkel organized a workshop at the public market place where approximately 350 people learned how to save water, protect our environment and handle laundry detergents in a healthy, hygienic and economical way. The workshop was hold by the Henkel employees from Marketing and R&D department. Since this day, the whole village is talking about the “Fiesta Henkel”.

All volunteers are proud of the progress in our MIT project. And in order to continue the joint effort, in August we will go once again to the little mountain village Santa Clara La Laguna to install stoves and water filters.

Join us again here on the BLOG – Changing Lifes in St Clara La Laguna!

The bare statistics alone were shocking enough: 200,000 dead, innumerable people injured and two million Haitians homeless. The aid organization International Health Partners did not need to say much more in order to solicit – and receive – help from a great many companies, Henkel included. Henkel’s donation amounted to 20,000 euros (channeled via Henkel Friendship Initiative e.V. to the aid organization I.S.A.Rr) plus personal care products, household detergents and, especially useful, packs of wound adhesive, given to the organizations Humanplus, UNICEF and International Health Partners.

Now Henkel has received a letter of thanks from Alex Harris, Director of IHP International Health Partners, in which he states: “Without your kind support, much of our aid work would have simply not been possible”, plus a brief video.

Harris also states that further aid would be most welcome: “Only a very few houses have so far been rebuilt. And now we are entering the rainy season and in two months the hurricane season will be upon us.”

So – as Head of Henkel’s Donation Management team Sandra Lorch explains – for this among many compelling reasons, the MIT Children’s Projects Committee at Henkel has decided to make an extra budget available for children’s projects in Haiti. The Committee will shortly be making its final decisions on the funding applications received.

Within three days, nine houses had been provided with whitewashed walls, sturdy concrete floors, stable stoves with a proper flue leading through the roof, and water filters for the provision of drinking water. Now, a total of 40 houses have already been improved as a result of the MIT initiative.

Watch out the video from Guatemala (video language: german)…

The money is designated for the support of the non-profit association “International Search and Rescue – I.S.A.R. Germany“ which has already sent specially trained teams to Haiti to provide professional help. 

In addition Henkel will provide the Haitian population with personal care and cleaning products, to help improve the hygiene situation.

 a message:

“Soy Rogelio Escobar, retirado, de 70 años, fuî invitado  por medio de mi hijo Rodrigo Escobar, empleado de Henkel Guatemala para participar en una etapa del proyecto MIT de  Henkel-Santa Clara La Laguna.
Debo reconocer una admiracion especial por las damas locales y las participantes de otros países, quienes trabajaron duro haciendo trabajos que jamas imaginaron, agregada la tremenda  incomodidad de algunos “rest rooms”.
Me gusto mucho el orden, la disciplina como se manejo el evento, la buena disposición de todos por colaborar y la cordialidad que se mantuvo en todo momento.
Nacionales y extranjeros maravillosos ayudando a personas preciosas del area rural de nuestra querida Guatemala y que seguramente jamas volveran a ver.
Gracias Henkel por la invitacion a participar. Un abrazo cordial para todos y todas”.

back home again but still the impressions in my mind I gathered in the last week. I am proud to be part of such a great team who worked in Guatemala. The project is in the focus but without the people it wouldn’t work. Thanks especially again to Kirsten Sanchez Marin who initiated this wonderful project and coordinated the field work with all Henkel employees. Besides her challenging work at Henkel La Luz she is also very ambitious to support the people in Guatemala. Saludos to all team member and hope to meet you again!