Last Friday, the entire GB staff in Honduras and hundreds of community members in Joyas del Carballo got together to celebrate the inauguration of Global Brigades’ water, public health, and microfinance projects in this community.
Water Brigades has successfully connected the communities of El Junco and El Encinal, which comprise the village of Joyas del Carballo, to a chlorinated water system. The village had a water system built by the government water institution SANAA in 1985, however the old water system did not provide enough quantity for the number of people in the community, with water arriving every 3 days, sometimes only at night. The old system was also not chlorinated with the hypochlorinator malfunctioning for 4 years. Utilizing basic tests, Marquette and Duke students were able to present the physical existence of bacteriological contamination in the old water system of Joyas del Carballo as well as in community member’s stored drinking water. The students used this information to stress the importance of the new water system and proper water treatment and storage with support from the Basic Sanitation Committee of El Junco. Now, after 8 months of brigaders laying pipes, digging ditches, and training the Water Councils, Plumbers, and Basic Sanitation Committees of El Encinal and El Junco, community members are officially ready to operate, maintain, and administer their new chlorinated water systems properly!
Since December, 2009, Public Health Brigades has been working in Joyas and also celebrated the completion of projects there. Over the course of the past 10 months, 432 students from 32 universities helped complete projects in approximately 85 homes. Because of the work and dedication of these brigaders, all of these homes are now equipped with a latrine, pilla, eco-stove, and concrete floors, all of which will greatly improve sanitation in the home and help prevent the spread of disease. In addition to working on infrastructural improvement projects, students also worked to promote preventative strategies to improve quality of life and prevent life-threatening diseases by conducting educational workshops in schools and training the Basic Sanitation Committee on how to maintain these projects.
Microfinance also celebrated the completion of projects in Joyas. Microfinance Brigades have been coming to Joyas for the past year and students have helped to invest approximately $6000 into the local cajas to help diversify the economy, decrease the community’s dependency on “coyotes” (who pay an advance on crops, buying them at a much cheaper rate), and maximize their agricultural production.
Congratulations to all the brigaders, community members, and staff that made the completion of these projects possible!
Check out photos from the event on our facebook page by clicking the link below. For high res copies, please email Christina Hirsch at christina@globalbrigades.org
Photos:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30472&l=0e92ed33b7&id=140142072674895
