Hug It Forward (www.hugitforward.org) is a 501c3 non-profit that empowers rural communities in Guatemala to build "bottle schools". Bottle schools are schools built using plastic soda bottles and other inorganic trash.
Please watch our short 3-minute Youtube video showing how kids and communities in Guatemala work together to turn trash into schools: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3gl1wWJdTM
Since October 2009 communities have completed 15 successful bottle school projects, at an average cost of $5,000 per classroom. In January 2012 we started our first project outside Guatemala, in El Salvador, and our intention is to start 4 more schools in the first quarter of 2012.
We have created the "Bottle School Manual", a free step-by-step guide to constructing a bottle school in your community: www.bottleschools.com/wiki - Our goal is to share the technology for anybody anywhere in the world to be able to create their own bottle schools.
100% of public donations made to Hug It Forward are spent on the ground in the communities where bottle schools are built – conscious businesses contribute towards our overhead and expenses.
We offer one-week voluntourism trips where you can work side-by-side with community members and be part of building a bottle school, at the same time as experiencing Guatemalan culture and history. Visit www.servetheworldtoday.com for more information about coming on a bottle school voluntourism trip!
Specialties
bottle schools, voluntourism trips, community development, participation and empowerment
