What a whirlwind this month has been! I arrived in Honduras on August 1 to begin working with Global Brigades full-time and within 24 hours of landing in Tegucigalpa, I was already out to work– preparing for the arrival of over 50 students over the course of the next month. These preparations were all the more exciting knowing that currently Global Brigades is one of the few organizations that has not abandoned Honduras in its greatest time of need and that our students are more dedicated than ever to the work of Global Brigades
Between August 5th and September 5th, students from Chicago, California, New York, Texas and Washington dug over 4 kilometers of trench and laid 2-inch pipes down the side of a mountain alongside members of two incredibly motivated and enthusiastic communities, Joyas del Carballo and Zurzular. By sharing the workload between students and community members, as well as making visits to homes, schools, and health centers, the Americans and Hondurans, despite language and cultural barriers, shared knowledge and became part of the same community.
On the last day of this brigade season came the payoff to the hard work of this newly formed unit. A group of students from University of Washington climbed to the top of the storage tank in Zurzular as water began to flow in, which marked the completion of not only their project but the first major project by Global Water Brigades. Zurzular now receives more than three times the amount of water they had received prior to our installation of a new conduction line and their water is being treated and managed by a newly trained Water Council and Basic Sanitation Committee. After seeing the success that can be had after a mere ten days of work, the GWB team is confident that with the help of our students we can complete water projects throughout rural Honduras.
