Coyol de Linaca is a community in the municipality of Choluteca in the department of Choluteca in southern Honduras. There are about 450 people residing in 140 houses. Few homes have concrete floors, proper functioning latrines, adequate water storage, or efficient stoves with chimneys. This lack of home infrastructure and improved sanitation facilities further exacerbates their health problems. The closest health center is in Linaca Centro, which is an hour walk from Coyol de Linaca. It is not consistently staffed nor stocked with an adequate supply of medicine. In regards to education, school is only offered until 6th grade in Coyol de Linaca and the closest secondary school is also located in Linaca Centro. Many students consequently leave school and begin working to support their families after completing 6th grade. Like their parents, they often work in agriculture, raising corn and beans for subsistence. Others work in the shrimp packing industry or cut sugar cane on nearby sugar plantations during the harvest, which is then sold to a sugar cane processing factory. However, this only offers seasonal employment and income. A few community members also work as mechanics, welders, or in security for banks in Choluteca.
Municipality: Choluteca
Department: Choluteca
The closest health center to El Coyol de Linaca is in Central Linaca, which is about 4 miles away. One of the community’s top expressed needs was the improvement of the health center. Global Brigades started hosting medical brigades in El Coyol de Linaca in 2016.
Brigade Volunteers
Patient Consultations
Vision Screenings Provided
Health Education Workshops
COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:Community Health Workers were trained by Global Brigades staff in 2017 in El Coyol de Linaca, but some of the volunteers came from Capulin and Linaca Centro. There are currently 5 Community Health Workers that help to provide basic medical attention in the absence of the nurse in the Community Health Center. CHWs help to treat and prevent common illnesses and address other health topics such as first aid, caring for pregnancies, and first response in emergency situations.
Medical and Dental brigades use the local school as their brigade site. The school has 3 rooms as well as one for the kindergarten, where the various medical stations are conducted. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and we are able to provide 4-5 educational charlas a day.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Toronto Medical Brigade | August 2015 | 45 | San Francisco State University Medical Brigade | June 2016 | 34 |
| Michigan State University Medical Brigade | January 2017 | 34 | Michigan State University Medical Brigade | March 2018 | 30 |
| Central Michigan University Medical Brigade | March 2019 | 31 | Dominican University Medical Brigade & Marshall Pharmacy School Medical Brigade | May 2019 | 23 |
| Pace University Medical TeleBrigade | October 2020 | 29 | Lilly Professional Medical TeleBrigade | October 2020 | 16 |
| Saint Louis University Medical TeleBrigade | January 2021 | 15 |
Working closely with the Medical Program, the Dental Program provides fillings, extractions, and fluoride treatments as a standard part of Medical brigades. Most community members do not have regular access to dental care due to the lack of dentist within a reasonable distance.
Patient Consultations
Number of Extractions
Fillings Performed
Dental Education Workshops
BRIGADE INFORMATION:Medical and Dental brigades use the local school as their brigade site. The school has 3 rooms as well as one for the kindergarten, where the various medical stations are conducted. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and we are able to provide 4-5 educational charlas a day.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Toronto Medical Brigade | August 2015 | 45 | San Francisco State University Medical Brigade | June 2016 | 34 |
| Michigan State University Medical Brigade | January 2017 | 34 | Michigan State University Medical Brigade | March 2018 | 30 |
| Central Michigan University Medical Brigade | March 2019 | 31 | Dominican University Medical Brigade & Marshall Pharmacy School Medical Brigade | May 2019 | 23 |
Global Brigades began a partnership with the Rotary Club of Choluteca in southern Honduras. The first project completed together was determined to be in El Coyol de Linaca. When GB arrived, El Coyol de Linaca had a water system that was only supplying water to approximately 35 houses in the community and was not large enough to meet the community’s needs. The system utilized a spring situated 2 kilometers from the community. The spring only provided 2.30 gallons of water per minute in the dry season, taking more than 26 hours to fill the 3,700-gallon storage tank serving the community. Thus, community members only had access to water for roughly four hours every other day. Without an adequate supply of water, community members sacrificed some basic hygiene and sanitation practices that would have otherwise protected their health. Despite the poor service, people were still paying a water fee of 20 Lempiras or US $0.88 each month. Posing additional risk to their health, few community members consumed treated water and the existing storage tank was not equipped with a chlorinator.
Brigade Volunteers
Beneficiaries
Kilometers of Pipeline Designed
Average Community Volunteers
EL COYOL DE LINACA’S ENGINEERING SOLUTION:In order to ensure that all community members have access to an adequate supply of clean water, Global Brigades built a new water system in El Coyol de Linaca primarily funded by Rotary Club Choluteca. The system consists of a drilled well, an electrical pump to deliver 25-35 gallons of water per minute during the day, a pumping line of about 810 meters of piping, a 20,000-gallon water storage tank, a distribution network of about 8,460 meters of piping, and faucets for every home in the community. The seven members of the new Water Council have been trained on water treatment, system maintenance, administration, and operation. The community plumber has been trained on the same topics in order to continue adequately managing the water system. The community has established a monthly water tariff in order to pay the Water Council for water treatment, maintenance costs, and system sustainability. A Basic Sanitation Committee, consisting of community volunteers, was also established and trained to help present educational workshops in the school to teach children about water- and health-related topics.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania State University Engineering Brigade | March 2016 | 12 |
Global Brigades began a partnership with the Rotary Club of Choluteca in southern Honduras. The first project completed together was determined to be in El Coyol de Linaca. When GB arrived, El Coyol de Linaca had a water system that was only supplying water to approximately 35 houses in the community and was not large enough to meet the community’s needs. The system utilized a spring situated 2 kilometers from the community. The spring only provided 2.30 gallons of water per minute in the dry season, taking more than 26 hours to fill the 3,700-gallon storage tank serving the community. Thus, community members only had access to water for roughly four hours every other day. Without an adequate supply of water, community members sacrificed some basic hygiene and sanitation practices that would have otherwise protected their health. Despite the poor service, people were still paying a water fee of 20 Lempiras or US $0.88 each month. Posing additional risk to their health, few community members consumed treated water and the existing storage tank was not equipped with a chlorinator.
Brigade Volunteers
Project Beneficiaries
Kilometers of Pipeline Installed
Storage Tank Volume (gallons)
EL COYOL DE LINACA’S WATER SOLUTION:In order to ensure that all community members have access to an adequate supply of clean water, Global Brigades built a new water system in El Coyol de Linaca primarily funded by Rotary Club Choluteca. The system consists of a drilled well, an electrical pump to deliver 25-35 gallons of water per minute during the day, a pumping line of about 810 meters of piping, a 20,000-gallon water storage tank, a distribution network of about 8,460 meters of piping, and faucets for every home in the community. The seven members of the new Water Council have been trained on water treatment, system maintenance, administration, and operation. The community plumber has been trained on the same topics in order to continue adequately managing the water system. The community has established a monthly water tariff in order to pay the Water Council for water treatment, maintenance costs, and system sustainability. A Basic Sanitation Committee, consisting of community volunteers, was also established and trained to help present educational workshops in the school to teach children about water- and health-related topics.
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown University Water Brigade | March 2017 | 17 | Central Michigan University Water Brigade & University of Virginia Water Brigade | March 2017 | 18 |
| Pennsylvania State University Engineering Brigade | March 2017 | 16 | Dalhousie University Engineering Brigade | May 2017 | 14 |
| University of New Brunswick Water Brigade | April 2017 | 28 | University of Pittsburgh Water Brigade & University of Toronto Water Brigade | May 2017 | 10 |
| Dublin City University Water Brigade | May 2017 | 14 |
The majority of community members in El Coyol de Linaca work in agriculture and cattle raising. This primarily consists of subsistence farming, although excess crops are sometimes sold. Most agricultural workers make about 100 lempiras (approximately US $4.25) a day during the rainy season. Regardless of occupation, most families earn around 4,000 lempiras per month (approximately US $170). Almost all household income is used to purchase food for consumption.
Volunteers
Loans Disbursed
Savings Accounts Opened
Capital Invested
In 2017, Global Brigades worked alongside El Coyol de Linaca to establish a community bank. The bank has 7 female and 6 male shareholders, and the members meet in the bank’s own structure every month. They are able to offer loans and savings accounts to community members so that families can plan and stabilize their finances. This is especially beneficial for farmers, who can take out loans to invest in their agricultural production and pay them back after the harvest. Loans allow many subsistence farmers to not only consume the crops they harvest but also earn an income from selling their excess.
Many community members in Coyol de Linaca lack the resources to make improvements to their household infrastructure. The majority of homes in Coyol de Linaca are made of adobe. There are approximately 140 homes in Coyol de Linaca, with an average of 5 people living in each. Hygiene stations, which include showers and water storage units, are necessary to facilitate handwashing, allow water storage for hygienic processes, and offer privacy while bathing. Additionally, eco-stoves evacuate smoke from the living space and decrease the risk of respiratory illnesses, and latrines improve hygiene practices and prevent contamination of natural water sources caused by open defecation. By partnering with Global Brigades’ Public Health Program, Coyol de Linaca‘s inhabitants were hoping to avoid preventable diseases and adopt proper hygiene and sanitation practices.
Brigade Volunteers
Eco-Stoves Constructed
Latrines Constructed
Water Filters Installed
| Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers | Chapter | Date | # Of Volunteers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Louis University Medical Brigade and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Medical Brigade | January 2018 | 36 | University of California Berkeley Medical Brigade and University of Wisconsin Madison Medical Brigade | January 2018 | 46 |
| State University of New York Public Health Brigade | March 2018 | 17 | Johns Hopkins University Public Health Brigade and San Jose State University Public Health Brigade | May 2018 | 9 |
| Thomas Jefferson University Medical Brigade | May 2018 | 24 |