Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan
Encyclopedia
Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan is a village in the northwest corner of the Sololá department
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...

 of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, about 169 km (105 mi) west of Guatemala City
Guatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...

. The village (not be confused with Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan
Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan
Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala. It is located at about 7500 ft altitude in the steep mountains descending from the western highlands to the southern coastal plain. The indigenous language is K'ichee'...

, see below) is along both Guatemalan Highway 3 and Central American Highway CA-1. The village has a population of around 4000 people and is approximately 3048 meters (10,000 feet) above sea-level. The village is known for its Mayan culture, including traditional Mayan weavings created with a back-strap loom.

History

Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan is a relatively young village. The village was formed in 1998, when 60% of the village of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan was destroyed by large landslides during Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...

 and residents decided to establish a new village on higher ground. Although the decision to move was made by the community, the federal government provided some assistance and infrastructure funding, including for houses and paved roads.

Background

Although Guatemala as a whole is fairly tropical, Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan's location in the country's highlands give it a unique micro-climate. Depending on the season, temperatures can range from below freezing at night to over 35° C (95° F) during the day, with large swings in between. A lack of cloud cover can make temperature swings very pronounced during the day. The region receives almost no precipitation during the dry season.

Like much of rural Guatemala, the village suffers from chronic poverty and low rates of education. Many households lack reliable electricity, and running water is intermittent in the village (usually available for only 30 minutes per day), due to both high elevation and lack of infrastructure.

The primary language spoken in the village is K'iche'
K'iche' language
The K’iche’ language is a part of the Mayan language family. It is spoken by many K'iche' people in the central highlands of Guatemala. With close to a million speakers , it is the second-most widely spoken language in the country after Spanish...

, although many villagers (adults and children) also know Spanish.

International Involvement

Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan has attracted attention from numerous international non-profits in recent years. The Rutgers University branch of Engineers Without Borders
Engineers Without Borders
Engineers Without Borders – International is an international association of some national EWB/ISF groups, whose mission is to facilitate collaboration, exchange of information, and assistance among its member groups that have applied to become part of the association...

 is currently (2011) re-designing and repairing the village's water supply system, with scheduled completion by summer 2011. Additionally, the Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

-based non-profit Appropriate Technology Collaborative has been leading student project teams from Rutgers, the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, and Michigan State University to work on energy, water, and health issues in the village since 2007. All projects are available online at no cost.

External Links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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