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Empowering PTAs in Honduras
Monday, September 28, 2009
By: Mark Duey

Water For People, SWASH+ Program Coordinator

Parents of elementary school students in Honduras are learning the basics of financial management and project administration, thanks to support from Water For People through the School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Plus Community Impact (SWASH+) program.

Restroom facilities and hand-washing stations are being constructed through a unique strategy adopted by Water For People. Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) in the rural communities selected for the program are trained to choose and contract skilled labor, price and purchase construction materials, and supervise and support construction, all under the guidance of Water For People and its local partners. PTAs receive funds for the project from Water For People and municipal governments in their newly opened bank accounts.

This strategy does not make things simpler. “It’s like two projects in one,” said Allan Torres, country coordinator of Water For People–Honduras. “It actually would be easier for us to just buy all of the materials and contract a mason and just send him out to the community. A significant amount of effort is required to train the parents, many of whom have never even had a personal bank account, but we think in the end this is an effective strategy to build local capacity and improve sustainability. The parents feel like the true owners of the projects and are more likely to provide proper operation and maintenance after construction has been completed.”

The parents agree. “I feel well prepared now to be able to implement another project,” said Sara Gonzalez, president of the PTA in Potrerillos, San Antonio de Cortes. “Seven PTA members in our community received training on how to manage funds and we learned a lot. The students have functioning restrooms and a hand-washing station, and now we are considering doing a small project to repair the roof of the school on our own because it has too many leaks when it rains.”

Water For People is implementing SWASH+ in Central America with partner organizations CARE and Catholic Relief Services through the Millennium Water Alliance. The program, which is partially funded by the Global Water Challenge, targets 144 schools in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua for improvements in access to sustainable safe water and improved sanitation facilities, and in hygiene behaviors in students. Other key program sponsors are ITT and UNICEF.

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