Dear Friend,

It is always our great pleasure to report our project advances to you! The people of Tayakome continue to inspire our work by how quickly they are adapting to the new infrastructure that was installed 2009 -2010. The water flows clean, the bathroom structure at the school is hygienic and in perfect working order, and good hygiene practices abound. We are very proud of the people, especially since 60% of all water projects fail within the first three years of implementation--and Tayakome is FLOURISHING!

In July and August of 2011 our Peru associate and project supervisor Caleb Matos Chavez made supervision visits to Tayakome. Your GlobalGiving donations were instrumental in helping to accomplish the following:

1. Installation of sky lights on the roof of the bathroom structure to minimize flies and mosquitoes gathering in the stall areas. Structural maintenance was also performed due to a leaky pipe.
2. Overall maintenance of the gravity flow water system, cleaning of the slow sand filters, bacteriological water testing, and PH balance testing was conducted to assure the water supply was safe. This was done with the water and sanitation committee. (WSC).
3. A technical training course was implemented for villagers and the WSC to review the infrastructure, and the importance of water quality testing and safety. These training workshops are essential for the community to arrive at long term health advances and project sustainability. 
4. The establishment of a monthly water and sanitation fee in which each family contributes $3.50 per month to maintain their infrastructure. This agreement was established at a community meeting in which 80% of the villagers were present.
5. House-to-house visits were also made with the village health promoter to secure that the tap stands and greywater drains were functioning, and to check-in personally with the people.
6. Meetings were held at the health post with the doctor, nurse and health aides to evolve their understanding of the biological components of slow sand filtration, and how it is removing 99.99% of the bacteria from the water supply. Caleb’s training with the medical staff assured them that the water is safe to drink without the use of chlorine disinfection.

What’s NEXT:  Our next supervision visit will be this December when our medical anthropologist Dr. Glenn Shepard Jr., will conduct a social impact study on the influence of our programming on remote rainforest cultures. We will also continue with technical training and health education to support long term health and sustainability.

House of the Children would like to thank our GlobalGiving Family for their ongoing generosity and friendship to the children and families of Tayakome. The advances in the community are monumental for indigenous people and give hope and inspiration to other villages that await our services.

REMINDER! We still have 14 months of supervision visits in Tayakome, so know that we would all be grateful for your continued support of these beautiful Matsigenka people.

Many Thanks!

Nancy Santullo

P.S.  Please share our work with your friends and colleagues!

"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they will never sit." Greek Proverb

Matsigenka mother bathing her baby at her tap.

Technical training for village men.

Sky lights for school bathrooms.

Water flows clean 24/7 to each village home.

Links:

• Capacity Training Villagers and the H2O comittee.
• Community members agree on a water fee.

Dear Friends,

Our work with the Matsigenka people of Taykome continues with great success. In March of 2011, HOTC made a technical visit to the village to check in on how the people were maintaining their infrastructure that was built in 2009 -2010. Our visit was also to provide technical training to the water and sanitation committee and to reinforce health and hygiene education with the children and moms. Our team arrived to find the new infrastructure: water filtration system, tap stands, sink and bathrooms, in excellent working condition. The water and sanitation committee is assuming their responsibilities with continued enthusiasm. Microbiology water testing was conducted by our project supervisor and he confirmed that the slow sand filters were removing up to 99.99% of the bacteria from the water supply, and that the water is SAFE to drink.

We also made house-to-house visits with the village health promoter that HOTC trained in 2010. The health promoter is a young woman named Mircia, and she has been making monthly house-to-house visits to work with the mothers since December of 2010. She also works with the children on weekly maintenance of the bathroom structure at the schoolhouse. Mircia is soaring to new heights in her function as a health promoter in the village. We observed the tap stand at each home clean and hygienic, and the cleanliness in and around the circumference of the home is much improved. We also observed that daily hygiene practices among the children continue to transform, and basic hand washing is becoming second nature to them.

The experimental gardens that we planted in three village homes in November of 2010 continue to flourish. Families are having success growing scallions, cabbage, and tomatoes (to name a few) to supplement their yucca –fruit – fish and wild game based diet.

The water and sanitation committee received advanced technical training from our project supervisor in systems maintenance, repair and water quality and safety. One of the committee members shared with our supervisor how he made a shower connection at his home by what he learned from his training with HOTC. HOTC also met with the teachers and medical personnel to discuss the coordination of weekly health and hygiene classes for the children at the school. The teachers and medical personnel agreed that it was imperative to continue with the weekly classes that were set forth in partnership with HOTC in 2010. They remain committed to developing "good daily hygiene practices" among the children.

Our last order of business on the visit was a community meeting. HOTC's Project Supervisor congratulated all the villagers on their progress. He presented the results of the water analysis taken at each home to its family members, so that they could see for themselves that the water was SAFE. The community leaders talked with the participants about establishing a monthly usage fee for the water and sanitation system from each family. They could not reach a final decision that day, however they agreed to address the topic on the next supervision visit with HOTC.

HOTC is extremely pleased with the accomplishments of the people and their willingness to continue to work towards long term health advances for themselves and their children. However, we have more to accomplish in Tayakome and our focus is all about “Project Sustainability.” In July of 2011 our team will make a supervision visit to the village to do the following: 1. Ongoing technical training for the villagers and the water and sanitation committee in system maintenance, repair and water quality and safety. 2. Enter into phase two of our talks with community leaders to establish a water and sanitation fund that charges a monthly fee to each family. This fee will be used for the community to maintain the infrastructure. 3. Ongoing health and hygiene education for mothers and children in partnership with the village school teachers, health promoter, and medical personnel in residence at the health post.

***This educational portion of our programming is essential in order for long term health advances to be achieved by the people.

*** OUR GRATITUDE: HOTC would like to thank each one of you for the difference you make in the lives of the people we all serve through GlobalGiving. Together we are doing what has never been accomplished before, as we bring clean water, a dignified toilet and health education to the people in the remote Manu Rain Forest of Peru. We believe as each community reaches its goal, our work will branch out to serve as a multicultural global model to promote the preservation of tropical forest ecosystems and the health and cultural integrity of indigenous peoples in the Amazon. Thank you again for your ongoing support of the project. Please share our work with other friends and colleagues so that we can continue to provide basic human services to these beautiful Matsigenka people.

Sincerely yours in service,

Nancy Santullo

Matsigenka man conducting a H2O test at his home.

Bathrooms clean & hygienic at the school.

Scallions growing in a family garden.

Shower built by a H2O committee member at his home

Dear Friends, 

It’s time once again to update you on our progress, as we work to improve the quality of life for the children and people of Tayakome, in the remote Amazon of Peru. There is more positive news to report! After 14 months of an intense construction schedule, the water and sanitation infrastructure are now in place and functioning for the people. House of the Children now enters into Phase II of our indigenous health programming.

Phase II Includes:

1.    Technical training seminars for the village water and sanitation committee in system maintenance and water quality.

2.    Establishment of a water fund by community leaders that charges a monthly fee to each family, for water use.  

3.    Health monitoring in Tayakome to document parasite and anemia levels in the population, in partnership with the health ministry medical personnel.

4.    Health and hygiene classes for the children, mothers, and family, done in partnership with the village school teacher, health promoter, and medical personnel in residence. 

This phase is the most crucial and guarantees long term health advances for the children and people and, equally important, project sustainability. Over 50% of all water projects fail in the first 5 years globally because health education and technical training in system management is not reinforced long term.

HOTC maintains bi-monthly contact with the president of Tayakome to monitor how the children and people are doing assuming their maintenance responsibilities of the structures. The president reports that the gravity flow water system (installed in 09) and the bathrooms (installed in 2010) are well maintained, hygienic, and in working order.

Health education continues with the children. The nurse from the health post conducts weekly hygiene classes for the children in partnership with the teacher. A health promoter from the village, who is a young Matsigenka mother, also conducts a weekly maintenance class that reinforces cleanliness of the bathrooms and basic hand washing with the children. This promoter also makes monthly house-to-house visits to connect with the mothers and reinforce maintenance of the tap stand and basic daily hygiene at the family level. The nurse, medical personnel, and the health promoter were trained by HOTC staff over the nine months our team was in residence in Tayakome in 2010.

Our project supervisor Caleb Matos Chavez will make a ten day  visit to the community at the end of March 2011 to check – in and conduct a three day technical training seminar with the water and sanitation committee and villagers, and a day long training with the nurse, doctor and health promoter. He will also make a complete review of the infrastructure. In June of 2011 our health supervisor will enter to conduct our yearly parasite and anemia study to monitor the health of the people, now that these basic health services are in place.

Our accomplishments continue to be many, and made possible through your ongoing support of our work through the GlobalGiving Network. We thank each and every one of you for the difference you make in bettering the lives of these beautiful Matsigenka people, who were all but forgotten by their government. Each village we complete brings us closer to a world where all children and people have their basic human needs of clean water, a dignified toilet and health education realized. As we help the indigenous children and people of Manu, we provide hope and inspiration to the 10’s of thousands of remote indigenous rainforest peoples globally. Word is spreading—that the Matsigenka are making the impossible, possible in Manu.

We are confident that one day, in the not too distant future, the basic human needs of all peoples will be met!

Thank you again for your continued generosity and friendship you extend to the people we serve. We will keep you updated on our advances as we continue to promote health and well being with the indigenous children and people of Tayakome.

Sincerely yours in service,

Nancy Santullo

Daily hygiene transformed in Tayakome.

Bathrooms at the village school.

Health education through art at the school.

Links:

• Nutrition classes with village mothers.
• Clean H2O for the kids at the school.
• Maintenance of tap stands at village homes.

Greetings Friends,

We have wonderful news!  The bathrooms at the village schoolhouse in Tayakome are completed!  After six months of construction in this remote rainforest village, the eco-friendly structure was inaugurated on November 19, 2010.  All of the children and community members were present for the ceremony.  Festivities included: the breaking of champagne on the structure, talks by HOTC's executive staff and Tayakome's president, and a delicious lunch of fish and wild pig prepared by the village mothers. It was a fun filled day for all!

This is the first time in the 47 year history of the community that basic human services of clean water, sanitation and culturally appropriate health education have been implemented for the children and people.

All of these accomplishments would not have been made possible without your ongoing support of our work.  We sincerely thank each and every one of you for the difference you have made to better the lives of these beautiful Matsigenka people.  As you can see from the photos and videos posted here on our Update—we’re making great strides with the people.

However, our work does not stop here now that the infrastructure is in place.  We will follow through with three years of ongoing health monitoring and hygiene education for the children, moms and the community members and technical training for the village water and sanitation committee.  This phase of our programming is the most crucial, and guarantees long term health advances for the children and project sustainability over the long term for the people.

We look forward to your ongoing support of our work through the GlobalGiving network.  We will keep you updated on our advances as we continue to promote health and well being in union with the indigenous children and people of the Manu rainforest of Peru.

We wish you all the Happiest of Holidays,

Nancy Santullo

Executive Director

House of the Children

Inaugurating the bathroom structure.

Children drinking clean H2O at the schoolhouse.

Technical training for the village H2O committee.

Mothers and children of Tayakome.

Maintenance practices of the bathrooms w/the kids.

Links:

• Kids learn to flush!
• House of the Children- Rainforest Flow
• Inauguration Cermony Tayakome

Our work with Project Tayakome continues to advance! The construction of the eco-friendly bathrooms and septic system has been underway since June 18th, 2010. Our crew, the villagers and the children work steadfast to achieve the completion goal of October 31, 2010. Sixty percent of the structure has now been built.

This remote Matsigenka village will be the first village, inside the protected zone of the Manu National Park, to have an integral health system that advances the health of the children for generations to come. This integral system includes: clean H2O flowing to tap stands at 15 homes, the schoolhouse and the medical post, separate boys and girls bathrooms at the school, and health education that reinforces daily hygiene practices.

It has been inspiring to witness the willingness of the people and the children that participate daily in whatever work needs to be done. The ongoing dedication of our HOTC construction staff to live long periods of time away from their families is profound as well. Our crew and the people of the village are able to transcend the distance, intense heat, physically challenging work, and the constant irritation of mosquitoes to live as one global family with a common goal.

It is through your past support that all of our advances have been made possible. We are in need of funding to complete the bathrooms, and continue with our health education and capacity training of the water committee through the end of the year. We humbly ask for your continued financial support of Project Tayakome. Together through our human kindness and GLOBALGIVING we are making our world a better place for all humanity.

Thank you for your support.

In deep gratitude, Nancy Santullo

Links:

• HOTC Team & Community Members Constructing School Bathrooms
• Clean H2O via Slow Sand Filtration In Tayakome
• Clean H2O flows and everyday life in Tayakome

PROJECT TAYAKOME UPDATE: It has been an AMAZING time for all of us here in the remote Amazon of Peru, in service to the indigenous people in our Project Tayakome. Our happy news to report is that the children and people are incorporating their clean water system and tap stand built in 2009, beautifully, into everyday life. After years of failed programming by governmental agencies, the people now have direct experience that an outside organization honors and fulfills their commitments to them. The people have learned through their hard work in building their infrastructure that they are the change and the future of their community. THE FLOW OF CLEAN H2O: Clean H2O continues to flow to each home, the village schoolhouse, and the medical post. The kids adapted instantly, and they especially love their stone utility sink at the school. The tap stands are clean and hygienic, and we are very encouraged at how quickly the women and children embraced simple maintenance practices of them. The village water committee, which was trained over 5 months by our project supervisor in 2009, have taken on their new responsibility of maintaining the water system with great enthusiasm. WHAT'S NEXT! We are in the throws of building eco-friendly bathrooms for the children at the schoolhouse. The preliminary work of purchasing the construction materials, gathering over 30,000 kilos of rock and sand for the structure, and building the native roof that covers the structure has been underway since May 1st. Our river boats have been working non-stop as well, transporting all the material 3 days on the river to the village. We officially break ground to start the actual building of the structures on June 17, 2010. Construction is scheduled will last through September 2010. YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT: Our success in Tayakome simply would not be possible without the support of each and everyone of you through our GlobalGiving partnership. We are creating the first ever replicable indigenous health project for remote rain forest people in the southeastern Amazon of Peru. Our 8 member staff of House of the Children are among the chosen few of billions of people on the planet that are allowed inside this strictly protected rain forest in service of her people. We have raised over 10K through GlobalGiving since June of 2009. However, we still have more to accomplish together. We are in need of additional funds to meet our current schedule. We would be grateful for your continued support of our work in empowering indigenous the children and people of this most sacred rain forest for generations to come. Many thanks and continued blessings to you all! Through sharing our abundance, we transform our world.

H2O comittee member monitoring filtration system.

Project Supervisor reviewing designs for bathroom.

Links:

• Project Videos on Youtube

In December of 2009, for the first time in the 47 year history of the community of Tayakome, clean water flowed throughout the village reaching 190 people, 15 homes, the school, and medical post. Phase One of our integral indigenous health programming is now complete through the combined efforts of HOTC's skilled technical team, the community members and children, and Global Giving donors! A gravity flow water system was built and slow sand filtration was installed to accommodate population growth up to 350 people. Fifteen homes also received a tap stand with an underground greywater drain. A utility sink was built at the schoolhouse, and water finally arrived to the medical post that was built 6 years prior, and had been operating without sanitation services. Our work, which inspires the children and people of Tayakome to achieve their greatest potential, simply would not have been possible without your generous support. The lives of the children and the people forever transformed for the better, because of YOU! Goals for 2010

Sanitation Infrastructure: Construction of flush latrines (separate sides for boys and girls) with an eco-friendly septic system at the village schoolhouse, and a utility sink at the preschool. Health Education: Health education classes for the mothers and children in partnership with the health personnel at the medical post and village school teachers. Technical and Vocational Training: Training in water and sanitation systems repair and maintenance for the village based water committee. Construction of the bathrooms and utility sink will begin on April 1st, 2010, and is scheduled to be completed by July 31st 2010. Our health education and technical training classes will be ongoing throughout the year. Know that your ongoing support through Global Giving of the children and people we serve in this remote rain forest of Peru is greatly appreciated and valued. We are in need of an additional $50,000 to reach our goals for 2010. Every dollar you donate helps ensure a healthier life for the children and people of Tayakome for generations to come. Thank you for your generosity!

Blessings to you all, Nancy Santullo

Executive Director House of the Children

Primary school children performing maintenance on their new sink

Cable bridge was constructed to flow water to the community

Links:

• http://www.houseofthechildren.org

Dear Friends,

In November of 2007, HOTC's team made a journey deep into the primary rain forest of Manu to assess the health needs of the native Matsigenka village of Tayakome. It was on that day that Hilario, a man from the village, filled with emotion, raised his voice at our community meeting, and said, "we want a better life for our children, and are willing to work hard together to achieve clean water."

We are proud to report that after 17 months of development on August 24, 2009 HOTC has officially broke ground in Tayakome. This is the first time in the history of the Manu Park, established in 1973, that indigenous people in the protected zone, will be empowered by sustainable health infrastructure, clean water, sanitation and health education. We are all very excited!

Our Services for Tayakome are: • Equal access to SAFE drinking water throughout the community. • The construction of a communal gravity flow water system. • Sturdy tap stands with an eco-friendly underground greywater drain at each home. • Stone utility sinks at the village schoolhouses. • Bathrooms that include flush latrines with eco-friendly septic system at the school grounds. • Weekly health and hygiene classes for the children and monthly classes for the mothers. • Baseline health assessments which include parasite and anemia testing to monitor the health advances in the community. • Technical training for the village based water committee and health personnel in health infrastructure, construction and water safety. • Partnerships with the health and education ministry for long term health advances and project sustainability.

Phase One: Construction of the gravity flow water system and slow sand filtration, 15 tap stands and 2 utility sinks with underground greywater drains, and base line health assessment is scheduled to be competed by Dec 30, 2009.

There are 190 people living in Tayakome; 110 of them are children under the age of 15. The water system is accommodating all the people, and will allow for a 5% growth rate per year over 15 years.

Our Project Advances:

• 100kg of construction materials have been purchased and transported one day by land, and three days on the river by boat and are in the community. • 100% of the 3.5 km water distribution line has been laid throughout the village. • 100% of the 100,000 kg of stone for the greywater drains have been collected. • Water filtration system has been designed by our US environmental engineer, Humphrey Blackburn of Blackburn & Assoc. Humphrey's operations manager made a trip to Tayakome in late October, to assist our team in building the water filtration system. The Slow Sand Filters are now in place and functioning, with a storage tank holds 18,500 liters of safe drinking water.

• 15 Tap stands have been built at each home throughout the central community and the underground drain at each tap to dispose of grey water will be finished by the 15th of Dec.

• Health examinations were conducted in November for all children and families which included anemia and parasite base line testing.

• Our Medical Anthropologist Glenn Shepard Jr. Ph.D spent six days in the community at the end of August documenting the social impact of our program.

Our advances continue to be steady as we are now flat up rainy season. Our team remains united the villagers dedicated to completing this first phase of the infrastructure in their community by the 15th of December.

We are 80% there, and are in need $30,000 complete this first phase of programming, which is flowing clean water to 15 homes, the village schoolhouse and medical post, and includes health education classes and technical training for the village water committee.

Your generosity has been instrumental in HOTC achieving the above accomplishments. Know that every dollar you donate through Network for Good helps to ensure a healthier life for the children and people of Tayakome.

Thank You and Bless You all for what you are facilitating for the people of Tayakome and we look forward to your continued support as we serve humanity in this remote and special part of our world.

We wish you all a warm holiday season filled with love and all things bright.

Love and Blessings, Nancy Santullo

Project forman pouring the floor for the sink at schoolhouse.

Base line testing for anemia.

Our HOTC team made a technical visit to Taykome in early July to arrive at a formal agreement with the community. HOTC conducted two community meetings in partnership with the village chief. These meeting were translated from Spanish to Matsigenka, and had great attendance turnouts by the community members. We also made house to house visits to speak with each head of household to discuss the building of their tap stand.

HOTC executive director Nancy Santullo walked every meter of the terrain where the water lines will be laid, with project foreman, Caleb Matos Chavez, and community members discussing in detail project execution. Our technical team also made house-to-house visits to conduct soil percolation tests that measured the absorbency of ground for our greywater drains. This testing was labor intensive due to the fact that the men and children of the community had to haul huge pots and containers of water from long distances to fill the test hole which were 2 ft deep x 2 ft long x 16 in. wide. We accomplished a multitude of tasks, and gathered our final data necessary to complete our engineering design.

The people of the community were filled with excitement that construction of their gravity flow water system and tap stands will begin by August 20th, 2009. Tayakome will be the first native community in the protected zone of the Manu National Park to receive integral and culturally appropriate health services that respects their cultural and environmental needs. This is monumental to the history of a remote native community in the Manu Rain Forest Biosphere Reserve.

Our visit was nearly flawless. The rain stayed away, and our long river travel was executed perfectly. Our total travel time on the water was 5 days.

Many thanks to all of our GlobalGiving donors, for your generosity and friendship. Our year to date total of funds raised is $5100. We ask, however, for your continued support. We still have 95K to raise for the flow of clean water to become an reality for the people. Through sharing our abundance, we make our world a BETTER place for us all.

Thank you and Bless you all,

Nancy Santullo Executive Director

Villagers & HOTC at the point where the water will be captured f

Villagers conducting ground percolation test for greywater drain