The Hands for Peacemaking Foundation sends teams to Guatemala each year from churches, civic clubs and other organizations to improve lives for villagers in the northwestern highlands region of Guatemala. Specifically, these teams work in the Santa Cruz Barillas District of Huehuetenango, where Hands for Peacemaking maintains a manufacturing facility and mission house to serve the 250 villages within the region.
These teams may build schools, install water systems, and/or clean-air wood stoves. The stoves replace traditional open-pit fires that are either in the homes or separate cooking areas, causing creosote to cake in the rafters and respiratory problems among the villagers, especially the children.
Teams typically stay for 10 days and work closely with Hands for Peacemaking staff who live in work in the area on their projects. If you or your group might be interested in mobilizing a team of your own, we would love to have you!