A Story and Recipe From Guatemala

My name is Felipa Pérez and I live in a rural village in Guatemala called Chanjule. In October 2005, my village was hit by Hurricane Stan, which damaged our water system so that we no longer had a source of clean water. Because of the damage left by the hurricane, we were without water for 2 months and we did not have the resources to rebuild our water supply system.

Along with other families in Chanjule, my family helped write a letter to Catholic Relief Services and its partner Caritas, requesting help to rebuild our community's damaged water system. CRS and Caritas agreed to help us, and after some meetings and planning, we began construction on our water and sanitation system. The people in my village contributed sand and gravel to the project. We also provided labor to help in the reconstruction, including laying pipelines for distribution, constructing latrines, wash basins, and the sewage system, and installing faucets in every home. Now we have a reliable community water system that supplies enough clean water to the entire village.

We have water in our homes and are able to keep our homes cleaner. And with latrines, there is less pollution in our community. Having access to clean water in our homes has helped us to improve our health and enabled us to prevent disease caused by using unsafe water.

Cod a la Vizcaína (serves 6)

• 12 tomatoes, sliced in halves
• 3 red peppers, chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 white onion, chopped
• ½ bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small can (4 oz) green capers
• 1 small can pitted
• green olives
• 1 lb tilapia, cod or similar white fish
• salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Salt the fish and brush with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Let it cool and shred it. Bake the tomatoes and the peppers until soft. Fry the garlic and onion in oil until light brown.

Put the fried onion and garlic, grilled tomatoes and peppers in a blender, blend and pass through a colander. Pour the strained sauce in a pan and heat to a boil.

Once the sauce has boiled for a few minutes add the shredded fish and remove from heat. Add green olives, capers, and chopped parsley to the pan.

Serve over rice.