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Indigenous Community Development

Our Mission

APROSARSTUN is a Mayan Q’eqchi organization promoting sustainable development in the Sarstún River Protected Area in southeast Guatemala. Our mission is to improve livelihoods in the communities in the Sarstun watershed region while protecting the rich biodiversity and ecology.

What We Do

Capacity Building & Leadership

4 Ahou
Community Workshops
Gender Equality
Ecological Awareness
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Community Health

5 Lamat
Water & Sanitation
Improved Cooking Stoves
Food Security & Nutrition
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Local Economic Development

18 Zip
Local Community Enterprises
Agricultural Production
Improved Household Economics
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Ecological Awareness and actions in the work of APROSARSTUN

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“We are committed to sustainable development, protecting the rich biodiversity and ecology of our home area. All of our projects are therefore based on participatory approaches to sustainable resource management.”

Guama in corn crop, improving the soil, providing wood.
improved-stove-aprosarstun
planting guama, 2022 (1)
gardens2
APROSARSTUN-income-generating-crops
Aprosarstun-cacao-project
APROSARSTUN-bee-keeping-project
oven-small cooperative business-APRSARSTUN
silos 4

Involving Our Youth in Environmental Actions

“The inclusion of youth in the agroforestry system in the communities of the Sarstun Region is our commitment!  Only in this way can we raise the awareness we want in more young people who can contribute to the care of the environment!” 

SUPPORTING WOMEN – changing the story

“In our village, we have not had the opportunity (in the past) of projects that directly benefitted the women, but you have thought about the lives of rural women and are changing the story of our communities.” – Beneficiary/new eco stove

improved-stove-aprosarstun
When funds are donated, APROSARSTUN is installing eco stoves and training women in their use. With this new stove, women do not inhale smoke and poisonous fumes from the traditional open fires. These stoves also use less wood, a benefit to the environment.
"Household Water Supply Project" was implemented by APROSARSTUN working with members of a small community. Families now have good clean water that is pumped from a spring into large holding tanks then transported through pipes to taps near the homes in the community. This saves the women many hours each week, time previously spent fetching water. Families turn on a tap near their homes and have uncontaminated spring water to use for washing, drinking, and cooking.

“The intervention of APROSARSTUN in our community is a blessing. I have seen many incredible things that they do for the development of the communities.”  –  Beneficiary/water project