Community Entrepreneurship, Circular Economy, Waste Management
Type:
Project
A non-profit association born in 1990 out of love for Lake Atitlan, because of its cultural, social, environmental importance. We educate, research and ensure its conservation alongside its local people, government authorities, community leadership and scientists.
We strive for the conservation of the Lake Atitlan basin and the improvement in the quality of life of all those who inhabit it. We promote projects in environmental health, education and research through alliances with local, national and international actors.
Atitlan Recicla (Atitlan Recycles) was created in 2017 to promote the economic empowerment of indigenous women living around the lake. Communally, more than 1,000 indigenous women collect garbage. They collect and classify materials according to their type (paper, plastic, metal, glass) and these are sold to local and national recycling factories. These sales allow women to have a complementary source of income to support and educate their families.
SCF provides a capacity-building grant, funding the collaboration with Roots for Sustainability (R4S) to support the evaluation and development of the business model to ensure sustainable operations. In collaboration with R4S, SCF is providing training, shadow management and impact monitoring.
Emergency Fund
The objective of this emergency fund is to ensure hygienic and clean conditions to protect the lives of 5,223 students from 77 schools in the Department of Sololá.
The Amigos del Lago Atitlán Association has been developing an Environmental Education project in 77 schools in the department of Sololá for several years. After the pandemic hit, the health security strategies have taken turns and according to ministerial agreement it is established that in all public, private and cooperative sectors, activities will begin as of January 7, 2020.
Unfortunately, the schools where AALA’s project works do not have the necessary supplies to be able to ensure basic hygiene measures so that students can return to the classroom. To help solve this situation and not put the children and the educational community of each school at risk, SCF is ready to deliver to the 77 schools 1 basic hygiene and cleaning kit consisting of hand gel, thermometer, and floor disinfectant, masks, bleach and sprays. AALA has planned the necessary methodology for the proper distribution and use of the kits.
