People Driven Development

Ponsoña Water & Sanitation Project: Phase 1 is Complete!

April 15, 2026 by Project Schoolhouse

In 2025, Project Schoolhouse launched the most ambitious infrastructure effort in our 20-year history: a unified water and sanitation project serving seven communities in the La Ponsoña region of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. At the heart of this effort is a single mountain spring with enough flow and pressure to supply clean, potable water to more than 2,000 people — leveraging one water source to multiply impact across an entire region.

Volunteer community members building the primary water capture dam

For an entire year, 25 to 30 community volunteers showed up each day, rain or shine, working toward the dream of clean water in their homes. Construction began with transporting materials up the mountain by truck and on foot, and in the steepest stretches, mules carried what trucks could not. Community members cleared the work site by hand and carried thousands of pounds of sand and cement up the mountain. Boulders dug out of the river were used to form the foundation of the filtration system

2025 Water Project Accomplishments

Mountaintop spring capture completed
Slow-sand filtration system built at summit
Three pressurization tanks installed along the distribution route
Chlorination units added to ensure water safety
Primary conduction lines trenched from the summit to the pressurization tanks
Distribution lines trenched (by hand!) to reach 74 family homes
74 families in 4 communities now have clean water in their homes and at their schools!

This completed mountain-top water infrastructure forms the backbone of the entire regional water system — serving the four Phase 1 communities now and laying the foundation for Phase 2 expansion in 2026.

Sanitation: A Foundation for Health & Dignity

Clean water alone is not enough. Project Schoolhouse’s comprehensive approach to building life-saving infrastructure ensures that every community we serve also receives the sanitation systems needed to protect the watershed and the health of the families in the community.

Community members, including children, took an active role in building their own latrines. This hands-on participation is central to Project Schoolhouse’s model: when families help build a project, they take ownership and maintain it well into the future.

2025 Sanitation Accomplishments

74 sanitary latrines constructed for homes in four communities
2 handwashing stations installed at community schools
Every family served trained in proper latrine use and maintenance
Every family served trained in proper latrine use and maintenance
Community hygiene education classes provided to families and school children

We particularly want to appreciate the partnership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Latter-day Saint Charities Australia for trusting in Project Schoolhouse to deliver progress towards our shared mission, supporting our neighbors in need.

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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: We Did It — Phase 1 is Complete!

December 19, 2025 by Project Schoolhouse

Written by Board VP, Shannon Fohn

Thanks to extraordinary support and a lot of hard work, Project Schoolhouse and the communities in the La Ponsoña region have successfully completed Phase 1 of our ambitious two-year project to reach seven remote communities with clean water, schools and sanitation. Together, we’ve made life-changing progress.

Our 2025 accomplishments include:

Four communities now have clean water systems and sanitary latrines, bringing health, dignity, and opportunity to 74 families.
Two schools received critical additions and repairs, finished just in time for the start of the 2025 school year.

This progress did not come easily. This year brought unusually heavy rains, and transporting materials to the water source at the top of the mountain was harder than anyone imagined — trucks got stuck in the mud, roads washed out, and construction slowed. But communities didn’t give up, and neither did we.

One of the most complex parts of the project — building the shared mountain-top water infrastructure — is now complete. This includes the water source capture, slow-sand filtration system, multiple pressurization tanks, and chlorination units. All of the materials had to be hauled to the top of the mountain, an arduous trek by 4-wheel drive vehicles and, for the final stretch, by mules. This incredible feat will not only serve the four communities now benefiting but will also support the remaining three communities, 119 additional families, as we expand the distribution grid to the remaining communities in 2026.

*Community members and team digging trench for system pressurization valves*.

All seven communities have poured a year of effort, sweat, and determination into this shared system, and they’ll continue working alongside us through Phase 2. Staying motivated over such a long and demanding effort hasn’t been easy and coordinating the labor of 7 communities has been a real challenge, but achieving Phase 1 has energized everyone. The finish line feels real — and it’s thanks to you.

Your generosity is transforming lives.
Thank you for believing in this work, for standing with these communities, and for helping make sustainable progress possible. Phase 2 is ahead — and with your continued partnership, we’ll reach even more families with clean water, strong schools, and brighter futures.

We particularly want to appreciate the partnership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Latter-day Saint Charities Australia, for trusting in Project Schoolhouse to deliver progress towards our shared mission, supporting our neighbors in need.

This is what Manuel Selva Garcia, Head of Construction, had to say about this great achievement:

“Hola, buenas tardes. Me siento agradecido y feliz por ese gran logro que hemos alcanzado. Ya que fue un gran reto haber terminado la primera fase, a base de dificultades, lo logramos con todo el personal de oficina y de campo. Esperemos seguir con ese entusiasmo el año que viene para la segunda fase de este proyecto.Y doy gracias a Dios por cuidar de estas lindas personas con las que siempre trabajamos de la mano, con respeto y coordinación. Este proyecto fue un gran desafío para mí ya que con el poco personal ísimos bastante.”

“I feel grateful and happy about this outstanding achievement we have completed. Completing Phase one was a major challenge, and despite many difficulties, we accomplished it together with our office and field team. We hope to continue next year with the same enthusiasm for phase two of this project.

I also thank God for watching over these wonderful people we work with, always hand in hand, with respect and coordination.

This project was a great challenge for me, but even with a very small team, we were able to achieve amazing things.”

– Manuel Selva Garcia

A boy is putting the final touches on his own family’s water access point.

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Greetings From Our Executive Director

December 19, 2025 by Selina

¡Hola amigos!

After a year of hard work, persistence, and dedication, we’re thrilled to announce the completion of Phase 1 of our multi-community water, sanitation, and school project in La Ponsoña, Nicaragua.

This project is a major milestone for Project Schoolhouse. It demonstrates our team’s ability to build large-scale infrastructure by leveraging a single water source to serve seven different communities in one unified effort bringing life-changing water, sanitation, and education to more families than ever before.

View the full project update and photos here!

We want to express our deepest gratitude to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Latter-day Saint Charities Australia. Thank you for trusting Project Schoolhouse and investing in this massive undertaking; it truly would not have been possible without your support.

Listen In: We recently sat down with Stephanie Dyer on the Escape into a Cause podcast to discuss how we turn good intentions into real-world impact. It’s a great listen for anyone looking to “unplug and make a difference.” Check it out here and join our mission!

The Road to 2026: The work doesn’t stop here. We are already preparing for Phase 2, which will bring safe water, sanitation, and functional schoolhouses to three additional communities in 2026, reaching 119 more families. Keep an eye out for more updates in the new year!

We are so grateful for your sustaining support and your belief in this work. I am also incredibly grateful to all the volunteers and board members here in the US who give their time and talents, and who truly make working on this project joyful. We couldn’t do this without you.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday with family and friends, and a new year full of good health and happiness.

Selina
Executive Director

Team and Community Members working side by side to finishing trenching for distribution lines to every home

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Greetings From Our Executive Director

July 21, 2025 by Selina

Dear friends,

I’m writing to you today with a heart full of gratitude and a profound sense of awe for the incredible work being accomplished in rural Nicaragua, made possible by your unwavering support.

Our mission to build schools and water systems in these remote communities is more than just a construction project; it’s a testament to human resilience and hope. The work on the ground is arduous, demanding, and almost entirely manual. Every cement block laid, every pipe fitted, every foundation dug, is the result of immense physical effort.

At the heart of this effort are the community volunteers themselves. These dedicated individuals, often farmers relying on their small plots for their families’ sustenance, commit their precious time and energy to these projects. They spend their days tilling their land, ensuring food on the table, and then, with an inspiring vision for a brighter tomorrow, they join our skilled builders, digging trenches, hauling materials, and constructing the very infrastructure that will transform their children’s lives. Their hands, accustomed to the soil, are now shaping a future. They do this not for personal gain, but for the profound hope of a better education and a healthier life for the next generation.

Leading these dedicated volunteers are our skilled builders and head of construction, Manuel. Beyond managing the intricate complexities of massive infrastructure projects, they navigate the harsh terrain, the challenges of access during the torrential rainy season, and the delicate art of coordinating teams of unskilled but eager local labor. Their expertise, combined with their unwavering commitment, ensures that these vital projects come to fruition against all odds.

It is this extraordinary dedication, from the community members to our tireless builders, coupled with your generosity, that truly makes a difference. You are not just funding construction; you are empowering communities to build their own destiny, mile by painstaking mile.

Thank you for being a vital part of this transformative journey.

With deepest gratitude,

Sincerely,
Selina