Empowered Community

Congratulations El Junco & Joyas!

893

Brigade Volunteers

3,167

Medical Patient Consultations

268

Dental Patient Consultations

419

People with Access to Clean Water

259

Loans Disbursed

30

Eco-Stoves Constructed

26

Latrines Constructed

20

Trained Community Leaders

El Junco & Joyas

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Engineering
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

El Junco & Joyas is a small community with a population of 154 people in the municipality of Cantarranas. Prior to Global Brigades’ arrival, community members in El Junco & Joyas suffered from a lack of proper water, hygiene and sanitation infrastructure, healthcare, and education. Common colds, respiratory infections, parasites, and diarrhea were common. Few homes had concrete floors, properly functioning latrines, proper water storage, or efficient stoves with chimneys, which further exacerbated their health problems. Luckily, there is a health center in the community, which is staffed by a nurse. School is offered until 9th grade in the community of El Junco & Joyas and nearly 90% of the population can read and write. Most families work in agriculture and they grow coffee, corn, beans, and plantains. These crops are generally used for subsistence, although some are sold for an average monthly income of roughly 1,500 Lempiras (US $64.00).

Municipality: Cantarranas

Department: El Paraíso

Homes : 45
Population : 200
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Yes
Electricity : No
Health Center : Yes
Community Health Workers : Yes
% of Homes with Latrines : 100%
Education : Up to 9th Grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 1 hr 15 min

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

The Honduran government provides two different types of health centers throughout rural Honduras: Centros de Salud Médico Odontológico (CESAMOs) and Centros de Salud Rural (CESARs). CESAMOs are the larger of the two, often found in municipalities, and typically have at least one physician on staff at all times with nurses and potentially a dentist. CESARs are found sporadically in rural communities and generally have a single nurse available. Even with this coverage, it is important to note that medications, supplies, and materials are often not available in these health centers and the physician density in Honduras remains around 1,220 people for every one doctor. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

There is a small health center in El Junco & Joyas called a CESAR, staffed by one nurse.  The most common health problems in Joyas are common colds, H. pylori, diarrhea, lice, dermatitis, and chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

230

Volunteers

3,167

Patients Consultations

N/A

Vision Screenings Provided

86

Health Education Workshops

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS

The Community Health Worker Program was necessary in a community like El Junco & Joyas because it is located high in the mountains, making the community very remote from health resources.  The closest hospital is a 2- to 3-hour drive, depending on how heavy the rains are.  Since most people do not have vehicles, they must travel using a bus that comes to the community about once a week.  Being so far away from health care access, El Junco & Joyas is a community that can especially benefit from the Community Health Worker’s skills. During their training, CHWs learned how to treat these illnesses, as well as about other health topics such as first aid, caring for pregnancies, and first response in emergency situations.

The CHWs help relieve some of the patient load for the nurse in the health center.  Additionally, medical supplies that Global Brigades is able to give to the Community Health Workers help fill the need for medical supplies that the government is not able to supply.

 

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Medical brigades are held in the local school, which has 4 separate classrooms. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and we are able to provide 4-5 educational charlas a day. In addition to patients from El Junco & Joyas communities from eight other communities attend the medical brigades.

AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 700
NEARBY COMMUNITIES: AGUA FRIA, EL ENCINAL, TENCHON, SUYATAL, MANZANAS, ESPERANZA, BAÑADEROS, BARNES

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNCO & JOYAS

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
DePaul University Medical Brigade November 2012 31
Regis University Medical Brigade August 2013 21
University of California Irvine Medical Brigade March 2014 34
University of Virginia Medical Brigade & North Park University Medical Brigade March 2015 37
University of Houston Medical Brigade & Middle Tennessee University Medical Brigade August 2015 48
Duke University Medical Brigade & Chabot College Medical Brigade January 2016 36

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS

In 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.

334

Patient Consultations

340

Number of Extractions

171

Fillings Performed

56

Dental Education Workshops

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Dental Brigades are held in the local school, which has 4 separate classrooms. Doctors spend an average of 10 minutes with each patient and we are able to provide 4-5 educational charlas a day. In addition to patients from El Junco & Joyas communities from eight other communities attend the medical brigades.

AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 700
NEARBY COMMUNITIES: AGUA FRIA, EL ENCINAL, TENCHON, SUYATAL, MANZANAS, ESPERANZA, BAÑADEROS, BARNES

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN EL JUNCO & JOYAS

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
DePaul University Medical Brigade November 2012 31
Regis University Medical Brigade August 2013 21
University of California Irvine Medical Brigade March 2014 34
University of Virginia Medical Brigade & North Park University Medical Brigade March 2015 37
University of Houston Medical Brigade & Middle Tennessee University Medical Brigade August 2015 48
Duke University Medical Brigade & Chabot College Medical Brigade January 2016 36

Engineering

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

JUNCO & JOYAS’ ENGINEERING CHALLENGE:

Prior to Global Brigades’ arrival, the community of El Junco & Joyas was relying on a drinking water supply system that did not meet all of the needs of the community. Their water system was constructed 25 years ago by a Honduran government institution but neither monitoring nor follow-up was provided by this institution after construction. The original system was constructed to supply a total of 50 households distributed to the two communities of El Junco & Joyas and El Encinal without taking into account the growth of these communities. Houses not originally connected to the system were forced to get water by carrying it from a nearby stream. Pipe diameters in the original system design were not sufficient to provide water consistently to all the houses that were connected. El Junco & Joyas was located downstream of El Encinal on the water system so due to improper rationing, valve manipulation, and water use in El Encinal, El Junco & Joyas was often left without water. In many cases, houses could go without receiving water for up to a week. The Water Council had only two members who were not complying with any of their responsibilities. Due to the lack of organization in the Water Council and poor water service, the vast majority of community members were not paying a water fee. This lack of organization and general infrastructural failure caused the community to stop treating its water. Illnesses related to water and poor sanitation and hygiene were common. As a very under resourced community, El Junco & Joyas did not have the funds to improve their existing system, or to consider constructing a new system. The community had previously solicited support from government organizations without receiving any help.

N/A

Volunteers

419

Beneficiaries

2.5

Kilometers of PIpeline Designed

N/A

Average Community Volunteers

EL JUNCO & JOYAS’ ENGINEERING SOLUTION:

Water Brigaders from 16 different universities worked in El Junco & Joyas from May 2010 to August 2010. During that time, the volunteers worked with community members to:

  • Reach an agreement between El Junco & El Encinal to design two separate water systems.
  • Build a simple dam with water intake structure
  • Construct 5,000 gallon storage tank with chlorinator
  • Dig approximately 2,500 meters of trench and lay pipeline
  • Connect 33 houses, 1 schools, and 1 health center
  • Provide educational seminars to children in the community on water and health related topics

When Water Brigades first entered the community of El Junco & Joyas, a dire water need was observed, along with a clear lack of communication and organization amongst the community members and leadership. Water Brigades was able to see the change in community organization and buy-in to their water system throughout the project.

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EL JUNCO & JOYAS’ WATER CHALLENGE:

Prior to Global Brigades’ arrival, the community of El Junco was relying on a drinking water supply system that did not meet all of the needs of the community. Their water system was constructed 25 years ago by a Honduran government institution but neither monitoring nor follow-up was provided by this institution after construction. The original system was constructed to supply a total of 50 households distributed to the two communities of El Junco and Joyas and El Encinal without taking into account the growth of these communities. Houses not originally connected to the system were forced to get water by carrying it from a nearby stream. Pipe diameters in the original system design were not sufficient to provide water consistently to all the houses that were connected. El Junco and Joyas was located downstream of El Encinal on the water system so due to improper rationing, valve manipulation, and water use in El Encinal, El Junco and Joyas was often left without water. In many cases, houses could go without receiving water for up to a week. The Water Council had only two members who were not complying with any of their responsibilities. Due to the lack of organization in the Water Council and poor water service, the vast majority of community members were not paying a water fee. This lack of organization and general infrastructural failure caused the community to stop treating its water. Illnesses related to water and poor sanitation and hygiene were common. As a very under resourced community, El Junco did not have the funds to improve their existing system, or to consider constructing a new system. The community had previously solicited support from government organizations without receiving any help.

364

Volunteers

419

Project Beneficiaries

5

Kilometers of Pipeline Installed

10,000

Storage Tank Volume (gallons)

EL JUNCO & JOYAS’ WATER SOLUTION:

Water Brigaders from 16 different universities worked in El Junco and Joyas from May 2010 to August 2010. During that time, the volunteers worked with community members to:

  • Reach an agreement between El Junco & El Encinal to design two separate water systems.
  • Build a simple dam with water intake structure
  • Construct 5,000 gallon storage tank with chlorinator
  • Dig approximately 2,500 meters of trench and lay pipeline
  • Connect 33 houses, 1 schools, and 1 health center
  • Provide educational seminars to children in the community on water and health related topics

When Water Brigades first entered the community of El Junco and Joyas a dire water need was observed, and a clear lack of communication and organization within the community members and leadership. Water Brigades was able to see the change in community organization and buy-in to their water system throughout the project.

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

El JUNCO & JOYAS’ ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

Most families have their own small plots of land where they grow coffee and/or plantains, which they sell as their main source of income. Many community members work by the day for the standard pay of HNL 100 (around USD 4.25) as masons or workers on others’ land. The agricultural activity typically requires investments to be made beforehand, earlier than the crops are harvested and sold producing a revenue. The necessary purchases of fertilizers and seed becomes very difficult when savings are not available. To overcome this hurdle, community members often resort to the support of middlemen who exploit the lack of access to market that the people in El Junco & Joyas have. Middlemen are aware of the lack of funds to invest in fertilizers and seeds and often lend farmers money in advance, discounting the amount later on when they buy the harvested crops at high interest rates. Most of the problems that farmers encounter performing their agricultural activities derive from the complete lack of access to savings and credit in the community.

Before Global Brigades helped the community establish the Rural Bank, the community had no access to any financial institution or its services. For these reasons, people in El Junco & Joyas were living as subsistence agriculturalists and struggling to maintain a steady income.

65

Volunteers

259

Loans Disbursed

19

Savings Accounts Opened

$6,988

Capital Investment

El JUNCO & JOYAS’ MICROFINANCE SOLUTION

El Junco & Joyas was the second community the Microfinance Program in Honduras expanded to in July 2009. The Microfinance Brigades in-country team and brigaders from five different universities have worked in this community since then. During this time, staff and volunteers worked with community members to:

  • Train and establish a Community Rural Bank (Caja Rural)
  • Provide educational seminars to adults and children in the community on the importance of savings.
  • Promote voluntary savings in the community to reach a level of sustainable capital for the Caja.
  • Door-to-door community visits to further encourage community members to trust the system of the community bank and open accounts to actively save
  • Provide community-wide workshops to sensitize community members about the importance of creditworthiness and reliability in repaying loans
  • Complete door-to-door community visits to teach the basics of household budgeting and accounting to families and women
  • Concede loans to all Public Health beneficiaries to finance the completion of the projects and collect over 93% of the overall loaned capital

EL JUNCO & JOYAS’ BUSINESS SOLUTION

The next step for El Junco & Joyas will be to establish a micro-enterprise that can bring more income into the community. The Global Brigades business team will soon host Business Brigades in El Junco & Joyas to study the local market and identify potential business opportunities for the community.

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

EL JUNCO & JOYAS’ PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE

Many community members in El Junco & Joyas lacked the resources needed to improve their homes and prevent diseases caused by unsafe living environments. The majority of homes were made of adobe, mud, and straw. Very few homes had hygiene stations, cement floors, and eco-stoves prior to the arrival of Global Brigades. Such living conditions triggered disease. The lack of hygiene stations led to high rates of diarrhea and water-borne disease, the absence of cement floors caused parasitic infection and Chagas Disease, and the lack of eco-stoves resulted in respiratory problems in many community members. Not only would the creation of health infrastructure better the health of household members through improved sanitation and hygiene, but it would also improve their quality-of-life as the new water storage units would reduce time spent walking to water sources and the eco-stove would reduce firewood consumption by about 70%.

Although community members recognized the problems inherent to their living environments, they did not have the economic resources nor the technical knowledge needed to address them. Moreover, the level of awareness concerning sanitation and the importance of health is very low as the children did not receive any education about the topic.

*These statistics reflect projects completed in El Junco & Joyas and El Encinal, which make up a larger area referred to as Joyas del Carballo.

439

Volunteers*

59

Eco-Stoves Constructed*

52

Latrines Constructed*

45

Water Storage Units Constructed*

EL JUNCO & JOYAS’ PUBLIC HEALTH SOLUTION

Public Health Brigaders from several different universities and the Public Health Brigades in-country team worked in Joyas de Carballo (El Encinal and El Junco & Joyas) from December 2009 – October 2010. During this time, volunteers and staff members worked with community members to:

  • Identify 9 community leaders and train them to form the Basic Sanitation Committee
  • Increase cultural sensitivity and awareness by working side-by-side with qualified masons and project beneficiaries
  • Build over 59 eco-stoves, 52 latrines, 45 water storage units, and 146 cement floors
  • Conduct educational workshops emphasizing the importance of sanitation and hygiene in local primary schools.

To ensure the sustainability of the in-home infrastructure projects, the Public Health Program continues to provide continuous follow-up in the community. It also formed and trained the Basic Sanitation Committee, a community body formed by local leaders which is entitled to monitor the correct utilization and maintenance of the infrastructures. Clear responsibilities and powers were assigned to each member, making the beneficiaries themselves even stronger stakeholders of the Public Health projects.

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

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