Guatemala

GOOD CORPORATE CITIZEN DOLE FOODS: CLEAN WATER & HEALTH PROJECT

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Floods, water pollution and lack of water causes seven communities representing 750 families, an estimated 4,500 people, to suffer devastating diseases in the municipality of Ocós. The lack of clean potable water in Ocós causes countless gastro-intestinal sicknesses (Cholera, Dysentery, Acute Diarrhoeal Illness, etc), which afflicts mostly children. With the help of Dole Foods, Inc., Water and Sanitation Health is working to provide clean water in the municipality of Ocós, Guatemala.  The project will help community members and children have access to clean water. The provision of this simple commodity, a necessity for life, will prevent disease and significantly raise the quality of life for the residents of the villages.

To learn more, view recent news articles:

PR News article on WASH's medical supplies and clean water project in Guatemala:  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/water-and-sanitation-health-wash-a-seattle-non-profit-commends-dole-for-assistance-in-guatemala-271823561.html

Boston Business Journal covers WASH's collaborative clean water project in Guatemala:  http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/prnewswire/press_releases/Georgia/2013/11/20/SF20573?ana=prnews

Water Filters provided by WASH to families in the community Las Morenas, Ocos, San Marcos, Guatemala.

Water Filters provided by WASH to families in the community Las Morenas, Ocos, San Marcos, Guatemala.


CHIQUITA BANANA:

In 2013, WASH was contacted by six Guatemalan villages near a large plantation where Chiquita buys bananas.  WASH was contacted for the severe water pollution found in the villages. 

WASH visited Guatemala to verify the events and the claimed abuses by Chiquita, read the updated assessment report here. Subsequently, WASH filed a lawsuit against Chiquita, view here.  After filing the lawsuit, Seattle's KOMO News ran an exclusive story on the case, view here.

The situation in Guatemala is unique, eg. assassinations of banana union members still occur on a regular basis >
aflcio.org and ghrc-usa.org

Chiquita (United Fruit Company) has a unique history in latin america.  At the turn of the century they were believed to be involved in the murder of hundreds of banana workers and became the inspiration for Nobel Prize author, Gabriel García Márquez, book "One Hundred Years of Solitude".

For Chiquita's history in Guatemala, click here