Renata

Monitoring and Evaluation, in partnership with UT Austin

December 19, 2025 by Renata

Written by Dr. Marilyn Felkner, Board Advisor and Clinical Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin

What gets measured improves; what gets measured and reported improves dramatically. Project Schoolhouse and students in The University of Texas at Austin Public Health Program take it to heart. Since 2019, when Selina Serna and Marilyn Felkner met, and Marilyn discovered that Project Schoolhouse works in the departamento where she had first been introduced to public health 40 years earlier, they have worked continually to optimize measuring and reporting community improvements made possible by Project Schoolhouse.

Students first focused on standardizing the Project Schoolhouse questionnaire with data comparable to that collected by global institutions such as WHO and UNICEF. Next, they converted to digital data collection, making it easier to collect data in the field and transfer data from Nicaragua to Austin. During the Fall 2025 semester, students analyzed data from 8 communities comparing education and family health before and after PSH projects. Next semester, the students will refine the analysis for reporting to donors, grant organizations, and social media followers.

(Pictured on the left is our Programs Coordinator Norma Valdez hiking to into a community to gather survey data)

Project Schoolhouse is improving education at UT as well as in Nicaragua. What began as a couple of students per year doing internships has evolved into a 3-credit hour course taken by 60 students each academic year. As one student summarized her experience, “…the research we did for Project Schoolhouse gave me an invaluable opportunity to apply what we learned to real-world issues.”

We look forward to sharing the data and findings in coming newsletters!

Ponsoña Project Update: Building toward clean water, one step at a time

July 21, 2025 by Renata

We’re thrilled to share the latest progress on our biggest water and sanitation project to date, one that will serve seven communities through a single, unified effort.

A project of this scale demands precision, hard work, and perseverance. It begins with tapping a spring with sufficient water and pressure to provide clean water to over 2,000 people. It continues with building a community-owned system that is durable and will last for generations to come.

Thanks to our team on the ground and a dedicated group of 25-30 volunteers each day, we’ve reached a major milestone: the spring capture and the filtration system, also known as the filtro lento, are now complete. This filter is located at the top of the mountain, near the main spring capture. That’s where the journey of determination for life-changing water begins for our team and volunteers.

Our team standing by the form for the spring capture

For the past seven months, rain or shine, volunteers have shown up to haul thousands of pounds of sand, cement, and rock, using off-road trucks, horses, and at the steepest parts, on foot. With sheer determination, they raced to move materials before the rainy season washed out the roads.

This project is about life-saving infrastructure that brings more than just water; it brings health, dignity, and a brighter future for families who have long struggled with water scarcity and waterborne illnesses.

Next up: Trenching the primary conduction lines to the system’s three pressure tanks, a crucial phase in this two-year project to bring safe water to all seven communities in the Ponsoña region.

This community project is made possible with the support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and funded by Latter-day Saint Charities Australia. Thank you!

Renata

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